/        4. 


'  vhp"' 


©wwWwWwy^ 


;  W     ^f.V-0 


rl¥r 


>  * 


t  A&& 


i^€^ 


W$ 


M^M 


^>i^-^#^^;:; 


^ 


iswfi 


Columbia  <Bntoer$it}> 
intijeCttpofltogork 

THE  LIBRARIES 


/ 


y 


~  9r  A 


Isi^tS- 


/ 


r- 


<^/. 


< 


/ 


OBSEQUIES  AND  OBITUARY  NOTICES 


OF  THE  LATE  RIGHT  REVEREND 


itttj,  CrcMucIl  (Dnkiionli,  j).  J., 


BISHOF    OF    NEW.YOBK: 


IM  II  i  !>lNi;   XHE   SEVERAL 


APPLICATIONS  FOR  TIIK  REMOVAL  OF   HIS  SENTENCE, 

AND     0  THE  It     DOCUMENTS, 


Si)   ARRANGED   AS  to   FORM 


A   CONNECTED   HISTORY  OF   EVENTS, 

TVITII    INTRODUCTORY    REMARKS. 


BY   A   NEW-YORK   CHURCHMAN. 


■*  •«  ♦  «<• 


PUBLISHED    BY    II.    B.    PRICE 

8  84     BROATWiT. 



'  '    l'S  0  '_  . 

•••;•••"•.  t  I*  ""•  • 


"7 


"  For  mine  Honour,  I  am  well  assured  that  as  mine  Innocency  is 
clear  before  god  in  point  of  any  calumnies  they  object;  so  my 
Reputation  shall,  like  the  Sun  (after  Owls  and  Bats  have  had 
their  freedom  in  the  night  and  darker  times),  rise  and  recover 
itself  to  .such  a  degree  of  splendour,  as  those  feral  blrds  shall 
be  grieved  to  behold,  and  unable  to  bear." 

EIKS2N  BA2IAIKH. 


»    *    •    « 


THE    RIGHT    REVEREND 


§Mjamin  SwMuell  (Dntjcrtionh,  §♦  §♦> 


.   /};*/.,./<  </  ^Mt^y/fi/-. 


BORN,  JULY  15,   1791, 


DEPARTED   THIS   LIFE,   APRIL   30th     1801 


I  I  HB 


Contents. 


PAGE 

INTRODUCTORY  REMARKS 7 

OBITUARY  NOTICES 17 

Death  of  the  Bishop  of  New- York  (/  'kurchman) '7 

Do.              do.              do.          (Church  Journal ) 21 

Death  of  Bishop  Onderdonk  (Churchman's  Monthly) 24 

Bishop  ( tnderdonk's  Funeral  (Express) 29 

OBSEQUIES  OF  THE  RIGHT  REV.  BISHOP  ONDERDONK....  32 

Preliminary  Meeting  of  the  Clergy  and  Laity  of  the  Diocese 32 

The  Funeral  at  Trinity  Church 34 

Resolutions  of  the  Standing  Committee 36 

Resolutions  of  the  Faculty  of  the  General  Theological  Seminary  36 

TRIBUTES  TO  THE  MEMORY  OF  BISHOP  ONDERDONK 40 

Resolutions  of  Standing  Committee  of  General  Theological  Seminary 40 

Resolut  ii  ms  of  Board  of  Trustees  of  General  Theological  Seminary 41 

Resolutions  of  the  New-York  Bilile  and  Common  Prayer  Book  Society . 41 

Resolutions  of  the  New-York  P.  E   Tract  Society 42 

Resolutions  of  Students  of  General  Theological  Seminary 43 

Tribute  of  the  Bishop  of  Illinois 44 

Bishop  Onderdonk  (Poetry) 45 


THE  CRUSADE  AGAINST  THE  BISHOP  OF  NEW-YORK. 

BISHOP  MelLVAINE'S  LETTER 47 

BISHOP  ONDERDONK'S  REPLY 49 

THE  DIOCESAN  CONVENTION  OF  1843 51 

PASTORAL  LETTER  IN   RELATION   TO   THE  ORDINATION  OF  THE 

REV.  ARTHUR  CAREY 53 

BASTORAL  LETTER  TO  THE  LAITY;  occasioned  by  a  recent  Appeal  to  them 

by  Borne  of  their  number 59 

LETTER  OF  THE  LAITY  TO  BISHOP  ONDERDONK 63 

REPLY  OF  BISHOP  ONDERDONK  TO  THE  ABOVE 65 

PASTORAL  LETTER  ON  THE  GENERAL  CONVENTION  OF  1844.   70 

TREATMENT  OF  BISHOP  ONDERDONK  IN  THE  HOUSE  OF  BISHOPS.  71 
CORRESPONDENCE  BETWEEN  THE  PRESENTERS  AND  BISHOP  ON- 

.    DERDONK 72 

Letter  of  the  Presenters 72 

Bishop  <  (nderdonk's  Remarks 74 

Bishop  Oadard  >ak's  Reply  to  tin  Presenters 75 


CONTENTS*  v 

PAOl  . 

PASTORAL  LETTER  ON  THE  PRESENTMENT 78 

VERDICT  OF  MAJORITY  OF  COURT 78 

BISHOP  CHASE'S  HOSTILITY  TO  BISHOP  ONDERDONK.    |Note.] 79 

BISHOP  ONDERDONK'S  SOLEMN  PROTEST -  ' 

ACTUAL  VOTES  OF  THE  COURT  UPON  THE  SENTENCE 82 

ANALYSIS  OF  THE  VOTES 8i 

BISHOP  DOANE  ON  THE  VOtE  FOR  ADMONITION 85 

Do.          do        ON  THE  VOTE  FOR  SUSPENSION 85 

DR.  SEABURY  ON  THE  SENTENCE 85 

Official- Sentence.   ...   87 

THE  BANNER  OF  THE  CROSS  ASSERTS  THE   ENURE  INNOCENCE 

OF  THE  bishop 88 

THE  HCFFM.O   COMMERCIAL  ADVF.llTlsMl  ON   THE   TIHAI 89 

THE   BISHOP'S  REITERATION  OF  HIS  ENTIRE  INNOCENCE 90 

THE  SMOTHERED  CANON 91 

FIRST    MOVEMENT    FOR   THE    RESTORATION    OF    BISHOP 
ONDERDONK 9G 

BISHOP  ONDERDONKJS  LETTER  TO  THE  BISHOPS 9G 

BISHOP  ONDERDONK'S  FIRST  MEMORIAL 97 

REPORT  OF  COMMITTEE  ON  BISHOP  ONDERDONK'S  MEMORIAI 99 

RESOLUTIONS  OF  THE  NEW-YORK  CONVENTION  OF  1847 102 

PROCEEDINGS  OF  THE  GENERAL  CONVENTION  OF  1817 102 

SECOND  MOVEMENT  FOR  THE  RESTORATION  OF  BISHOP 

ONDERDONK 107 

PRELIMINARY  MEASURES lo: 

THE  PRAYER  OF  THE  DIOCESE  OF  NEW-YORK   108 

REPLY  OF  THE  BISHOPS 118 

ACTION  OF  THE  GENERAL  CONVENTION  OF  1850 120 

PROPOSED  CIVIL  SUIT. 21 

LETTER  FROM  BISHOP  ONDERDONK 123 

REPLY 124 

LAST  MOVEMENT  FOR  THE  RESTORATION  OF  BISHOP  ON- 
DERDONK   12G 

PRELIMINARY  MEASURES 12(! 

BISHOP  ONDERDONK'S  MEMORIAL 127 

Bishop  Onderdonk's  Letter  to  Bishop  Potter 129 

Bishop  Potter's  Letter  to  Dr.  Tyng 130 

Bishop  Onderdonk's  first  Letter  to  the  Rev.  Drs.  Hawks,  Tyng,  and  Eigen- 

brodt '••■••   1:;I 

Reply  to  the  above   1  •'- 

Bishop  Onderdonk's  second  Letter  to  the  Rev.  Drs.  Hawks,  Tyng,  and  Eigen- 

brodt 133 

Bishop  Onderdonk's  first  Letter  to  the  Rev.  Dr.  Vinton 133 

THE  MOVEMENT  AT  MEETING  OF  THE  DIOCESAN  CONVENTION  OF 

1859 l3i 

Bishop  Potter's  Speech 130 

The  Vote  on  Restoration 139 


yi  CONTENTS. 

PAGE. 

THE  DOINGS  OF  THE  NEW- YORK  DELEGATION 141 

Bishop  ( toderdonk's  second  Letter  to  the  Lev.  Dr.  Vinton 141 

Memorial  of  the  Church  of  the  Annunciation,  New-York 142 

ACTION  OF  THE  BISHOPS 144 

The  Vote  on  Unconditional  Restoration 145 

Resolutions  of  Bishop  Whitehousc 140 

Bi.-hop  Onderdonk's  Telegram  to  the  Rev.  D:\  Vinton   147 

Bishop  Onderdonk's  Letter  to  the  Rev.  Dr.  Vinton,  on  Resignation  of  Juris- 
diction   147 

Final  Vote  on  the  Case . .   148 


APPENDIX. 

THE  CAREY  CASE 152 

Account  of  the  Ordination 153 

Remarks 155 

To  the  Church 156 

Rev.  Dr.  Higbee  on  the  Special  Examination 157 

Subsequent  Events 159 

OUTSIDE  INFLUENCES  AGAINST  BISHOP  ONDERDONK'S  RESTORA- 
TION  ■ 160 

DR.  ANTHON  ON  RESTORATION 161 

THE  DIOCESAN  CONVENTION  OF  1859  AND  BISHOP  ONDERDONK..  163 

BISHOP  ONDERDONK  AND  SECRET  SESSIONS 165 

OMISSION  OF   BISHOP   ONDERDONK'S    NAME    FROM    CONVENTION 

JOURNALS 168 

BISHOP  ONDERDONK  RE-ASSERTS  HIS  ENTIRE  INNOCENCE  ON  HIS 

DEATHBED 171 

FUNERAL  SERMON 173 


.$ntrohttorij  IjUmarltii! 


[The  following  pages  wore  prepared  for  the  press  soon  after  the  death  of  Risnor  Oxt>ertwwic, 
but  their  publication  was  delayed  in  order  to  afford  time  for  the  execution  of  the  FINE 
STEEL  ENGRAVING  herewith  presented,  from  an  Imperial  Photograph  by  Brady,  taken  about 
the  time  of  the  last  General  Convention.  This  being  only  two  years  ago,  and  the  likeness  an 
excellent  one,  the  friends  of  the  venerable  prelate  cannot  fail  to  realize,  as  they  gaze  upon  it,  the 
genial  influences  of  bis  life  and  conversation.] 

The  unprecedented  sentence  inflicted  in  the  early  part  of  the  year 
1845  upon  the  Eight  Rev.  Benjamin  Tredwele  Onderdonk,  D.  D., 
Bishop  of  New- York,  has  at  length  been  terminated — death  having 
put  an  end  both  to  the  hopes  of  his  friends  and  the  fears  of  his  persecu- 
tors. The  rightful  shepherd  of  the  flock  no  longer  laments  the  hard- 
ness of  his  fate.  The  God  whom  he  continually  served  has  called 
him  from  the  sphere  of  the  Church  Militant,  where  he  was  prevented 
from  exercising  his  lawful  commission  by  the  unjust  and  cruel  judg- 
ment of  an  earthly  tribunal,  and  has  mercifully  placed  him  beyond  the 
reach  of  its  relentless  power,  in  the  Church  Triumphant.  And,  now 
that  the  strife  is  over,  the  writer,  in  view  of  all  the  facts  con- 
nected with  the  official  life  of  Bishop  Onderdonk,  presents  this  publi- 
cation as  a  humble  tribute  of  his  own  respect  and  admiration  for  the 
deceased,  presuming  that  it  will  also  be  acceptable  to  his  other  long 
tried  personal  friends. 

The  selections  embrace  editorials  from  Church  papers  and  the  secular 
press  ;  and  other  matters  bearing  upon  the  memorable  demonstrations 
of  sympathy  and  regard,  so  powerfully  manifested  at  the  time  of  his 
death,  not  only  by  those  who  have  been  unwavering  in  their  convictions 
of  the  innocence  and  purity  of  the  Bishop's  character,  but  also  by 
his  old  foes  and  persecutors,  who,  relenting  and  subdue'!,  seemed 
every  way  ready  to  do  justice  to  the  memory,  at  least,  of  him  who 


8  INTRODUCTORY. 

had  so  long  and  so  recently  been  the  object  of  their  ill-will  and  re- 
proach. 

Th?   obituary  notice  which  appeared  in   the   Church  Journal,  is 
also  assigned  a  place  in  this  publication,  and,  but  for  a  single  import- 
ant error  therein  contained,  we  should  have  been  pleased  to  let  it  pass 
without  special  remark.     The  reader  is  referred  to  what  the  Editor 
has   to  say  concerning  Church  Discipline,  as  connected  with  the  case 
of  Bishop  Onderdonk.     To  dignify  the  most  remarkable   persecution, 
on  the  part  of  the  Bishops*  of  the  Church,  with  the  name  of  Discip- 
line, even  though  such  persecution  received  the  solemn  sanction  of  an 
ecclesiastical  tribunal   from  which  there  was  no  appeal,  a  tribunal 
Avhich  may  at  any  time  be  organized  for  the  most  unhallowed  designs, 
as,  indeed,  has  already  happened  in  each  of  the  cases  for  which  it  has 
been  used,  is  not  rightly  to  distinguish  between  Episcopal  tyranny  and 
Church  Discipline.     If  the  Editor  of  the  Journal  really  had  "  no  idea 
of  re-opening  the  issues  which  so  long  divided  Churchmen  in  this  and 
other  Dioceses,"  why  was  it  desirable  and  proper  to  assert,  as  he  did 
substantially,  that  the  fact  that  the  strongest  and  most  beloved  and 
popular  Bishop  of  the  strongest  Diocese  was  put  down  and  held  in 
a  suspended  condition  for   more    than  sixteen  years, — and  that,  too, 
against  the  unanimous  voice  of  his   own  Diocese  and  sundry  other 
overwhelming  considerations, — "  thoroughly  proves  the   strength  of  the 
Church  for  administering  Discipline — a    strength    which    commands    the 
unbounded  confidence  of  Churchmen  and  of  all  reflecting  men  ?t" 


*  It  should  bo  understood  that  whenever  we  speak  of  the  action  of  the  House  or  Court  of 
Bishop3  as  a  body,  we  are  not  unmindful  of  the  friendly  action  of  the  minority.  Especially  do 
we  remember  the  noble  stand  originally  taken  by  tho  se  who  represented  the  votes  cast  for  Admo- 
nition, namely  :  Bishops  Whittingham,  Doane,  De  Lancey,  Gadsden,  Ives,  and  Kemper.  Being 
compelled  by  Canon  to  vote,  they  pronounced  in  favor  of  Admonition,  though  holding  the  Re- 
spondent "Not  guilty"  of  the  charges  preferred.  After  which  they  voted  for  Suspension  to 
save  him  from  Deposition,  when  they  were  roundly  abused  by  the  friends  of  the  majority  for 
their  inconsistency  in  not  suffering  him  to  be  Deposed  ! 

t  This  view  of  Church  Discipline  is  quite  on  a  par  with  the  Journal's  opinion  as  to  what  con- 
stitutes a  General  Seminary  ;  an  opinion  which  was  most  approvingly  copied  by  the  Southern 
Churchman,  namely  : 

"  A  Seminary  to  be  general,  in  the  sen^e  of  educating  all  candidates,  ought  ta  satisfy  all 
putted  in  the  Church,  and  yet  be  neither  High  Church  nor  Low  Church  in  any  sense  that  could 
possibly  offend  the  scruples  of  any  advocate  of  either  of  the  two  sections  ! " 


INTRODUCTORY.  9 

But   docs  not   the   so-called  "Church    Discipline"    rather    prove 
the  well  organized  character  of  the  conspiracy  against  the  late  Bishop 

of  New-York,  seeing  that  no  such  Discipline  could  ever  have  been 
administered,  but  for  the  enactment  of  Canons,  which  the  General 
Convention  thought  best  to  modify  and  revoke  at  the  earliest  mo- 
ment after  their  object  was  attained,  and  their  alarming  intent 
discovered?  And,  because  the  feelings  of  a  majority  of  the  mem- 
bers of  the  Court,  did  not  prompt  them  to  restore  to  the  indi- 
vidual the  powers  of  which  he  had  thus  been  deprived,  but  impelled 
them  to  treat  every  application  for  his  relief  with  indifference  and 
contempt,  are  we  to  look  upon  the  high-handed  procedure  with  "  ad- 
miration," and  to  believe  that  it  was  the  arm  of  the  Omnipotent  making 
itself  felt  through  the  Discipline  of  the  Church?  Because  the  Bishops 
saw  fit  to  regard  the  action  of  an  irresponsible  Ecclesiastical  Court  as 
infallible,  and  on  this  ground  to  declare  that  the  prayer  of  the  Right 
Rev.  Petitioner  could  not  be  seriously  heard,  without  a  full  and  unquali- 
fied acknowledgment  that  he  was  actually  guilty  of  the  charges  for  which 
he  was  tried  and  condemned,  are  we  to  be  asked  to  see  in  all  this  the 
remotest  glimmering  of  Christian  love — the  slightest  approximation 
to  that  Spirit  of  Christ,  without  which  there  can  be  no  basis  for  any 
such  Church  Discipline  as  should  "command  the  admiration  of  all 
reflecting  men  ?"  Is  it  indeed  a  proof  of  the  moral  force  of  our 
Discipline,  that  a  powerful  man  may  be  crushed  at  any  time,  whilst 
the  weak  and  imbecile,  and  a  mischievous  band  of  slandering  gossips, 
and  conspirators,  and  plotters  against  the  most  sacred  rights  and 
privileges  of  the  unsuspecting  Christian  citizen  and  Bishop,  are  abso- 
lutely encouraged  in  their  unrighteous  doings  by  prelates  of  the 
Church — no  notice  whatever  being  taken  of  the  higher  offences,  whilst 
those  of  an  ordinary  nature,  receive  attention  only  in  the  ratio  of 
about  one  to  a  hundred,  and  that  one,  perhaps,  the  case  of  some  poor, 
friendless  clergyman,  who  needs  the  sympathy  of  his  brethren  infi 
nitely  more  than  he  does  the  so-called  "Discipline"  of  the  Church  ? 
Why  did  not  the  Editor  of  the  Journal  go  further,  and  propose  the 
Canonization  of  the  Rev.  Paul  Trapier,  that  pliant  tool  of  the  con- 


10  INTRODUCTORY. 

spiralors,  who  always  deemed  it  his  solemn  duty  to  assist  in  carrying 
out  every  evil  design  against  Bishop  Onderdonk  ;  and  who,  upon  the 
private  assurance  of  Bishop  Elliott,  that  "  there  were  Bishops  who 
would  receive  affidavits,"  at  once  proceeded  to  arrange  with  Mr. 
Mennninger  for  the  production  of  such  as  woidd  lay  the  foundation 
for  a  Presentment  against  the  Bishop  of  New- York?  Why,  it  may 
justly  be  asked,  was  not  Mr.  Trapier  proposed  for  Canonization,  as 
well  as  his  colleague,  Mi-.  Memmingcr,  the  accomplished  and 
popular  counsel  to  the  original  receivers  of  scandal — he,  who,  at 
the  suggestion  of  Mr.  Trapier,  accepted  the  commission  of  hunting 
up  charges  in  New- York  against  Bishop  Onderdonk, — Mr.  Trapier 
being  somewhat  inexperienced,  and  the  business  rather  more  in  the 
line  of  Mr.  Memmingcr?  The  Editor  of  the  Journal  must  see,  that 
if  the  case  of  Bishop  Onderdonk  may  be  used  to  illustrate  the  strength 
of  Church  Discipline,  these  gentlemen  played  a  very  important  part 
in  the  administration   of  such  Discipline. 

The  crying  evil  in  the  American  Church,  is  the  ivcakness  of  its  Dis- 
cipline. Hence  its  latitudinarian  tendencies.  And,  with  such  men 
as  Bishop  Mcllvaine,  and  the  late  Rev.  Dr.  Anthon,  Mr.  C.  G-. 
Memminger,  Mr.  John  Jay,  and  the  Rev.  Messrs.  Paul  Trapier, 
James  C.  Richmond,  and  C.  M.  Butler,  D.  D.,  as  instruments  for 
manufacturing  and  hunting  up  slanderous  rumors,  and  the  timely  aid 
of  Bishops  Meade,  Elliott,  and  Otey  to  investigate,  sift,  and  reduce 
them  to  the  form  of  affidavits,  it  is  hard  to  say  who  could  escape,  if 
once  pointed  out  as  an  object  of  persecution  or  assault  by  the  party 
that  claims  their  allegiance. 

To  give  a  solitary  instance  of  the  recklessness  with  which  the 
minds  of  witnesses  were  worked  up  in  the  manufacture  of  testi- 
mony, take  the  case  of  one  of  the  gentlemen  above-named,  the  Rev. 
Dr.  Butler,  now  of  Washington  City,  who  made  a  solemn  oath  to  a 
statement  as  having  been  communicated  to  him  by  his  wife,  but  which 
she  subsequently  declared,  under  oath,  that  she  did  not  communicate  to 
him  or  to  any  other  person,  and  that  no  such  thing  had  ever  happened  ! 
Startling  as  this  may  be,  it   is  nevertheless  true;  and  but  for  this 


INTRODUCTORY.  11 

false  affidavit,  and  one  or  two  outrageous  allegations  which  the  inves- 
tigating Bishops  coolly  informed  Bishop  Onderdonk  were  "entirely 
groundless,''  the  presentment  against  him  would  not  have  been  made. 
His  enemies,  however,  knew  full  well  that  such  things,  if  once  cir- 
culated, would  produce  their  desired  effect  on  the  public  mind.  But 
read  what  Bishop  Onderdonk  says  on  this  subject,  in  the  following 
extract  from  his  "Statement  of  Facts"  connected  with  the  Trial, 
and  published  immediately  after  it — a  statement  which  ought  to  be  in 
the  bauds  of  every  true  friend  of  the  Church.  The  letter  from  which 
the  extract  is  taken,  and  which  will  be  found  on  page  75,  was  writ- 
ten by  Bishop  Onderdonk  in  reply  to  one  from  Bishops  Meade,  Elliott, 
and  Otey,  on  the  5th  of  November,  1844,  informing  him,  that  they 
had  concluded  to  present  him  for  trial  :* 

•'  You  have  had  your  ears  open  to  all  the  gossip  and  scandal  which  men,  re- 
ducing themselves  to  the  low  caste  of  informers  and  panders,  could  seek  out  and 
scrape  together  for  the  use  of  my  inveterate  enemies.  It  being  thus  known  that 
there  were  Bishops  here  who  made  it  their  business  to  receive,  examine,  and 
sift  such  testimony,  has  done  more  to  bring  scandal  on  the  Church,  than  all  else 
connected  with  this  business,  and  has  given  an  intensity  of  malignant  effect  to 
men  desperately  set  upon  my  ruin.  You  have  thus  been  the  means  of  creating  the 
public  RUMOR,  which  is,  I  understand,  an  assumed  ground  of  action  for  the  de- 
fence and  purifying  of  the  Church.  Thus  you  have  contributed  to  make  me, 
and  through  me,  our  Office,  our  Church,  and  our  Religion,  a  scoffing  to  the  pro- 
fane ;  and  done  not  a  little  to  aggravate  my  wretchedness,  and  help  the  pur- 
pose of  my  enemies  to  bring  on  my  ruin.  Contrast  with  all  this,  what  you  say 
of  friend'y  and  Christian  feelings  toward  me." 

"When  it  is  considered  that  these  remarkable  words  were  penned  by 
a  Bishop  of  the  Holy  Catholic  Church  in  his  own  defence,  and  that 
they  were  addressed  to  no  less  than  three  of  his  brethren  in  the 
Episcopate,  by  one  who  never  allowed  himself  to  speak  a  word  of 
censure  or  reproach  against  the  humblest  individual,  unless  actuated 
by  the  sternest  sense  of  duty,  they  become  invested  with  all  the  force 
and  significance  that  can  possibly  attach  to  human  utterance.  Full 
sixteen  years  having  passed  away  since  this   humiliating  paragraph 


*  It  13  gratify  ng  to  know  that  Bishop  Otey  has  done  so  much  to  atone  for  this  great  error  of  his 
life,  as  seems  to  be  indicated  by  the  fact  that  he  voted,  on  the  last  Memorial  of  Bishop  Onderdonk, 
for  his  unconditional  restoration. 


12  INTRODUCTORY. 

appeared,  none  but  the  older  members  of  the  present  generation  of 
Churchmen  can  be  supposed  to  have  any  distinct  idea  of  the  griev- 
ances which  demanded  its  publication,  or  of  the  spirit  that  disiin- 
guished  the  prosecution.  The  disappearance  and  suppression  of  simi- 
lar facts  and  circumstances  connected  with  the  case  of  Bishop  Onder- 
donk  seems,  therefore,  to  recmire  that  such  of  the  principal  papers  and 
documents  as  may  still  be  accessible,  should  be  collected  and  preserved 
in  the  present  convenient  form.  For  this  reason  wc  shall  reprint 
the  Memorial  of  the  Bishop  presented  to  the  General  Convention  of 
1847,  with  the  extraordinary  action  thereon,  and  the  Petition  of  the 
Standing  Committee  of  the  Diocese  of  New- York  addressed  to  the 
Bishops  in  1850. 

The  last  Memorial  of  Bishop  Onderdonk  to  his  Bight  Reverend 
Peers,  assembled  in  General  Convention  in  the  year  1850,  with  a 
connected  account  of  the  circumstances  attending  its  presentation, 
as  well  as  another  never  before  published,  from  the  Church  of  the 
Annunciation,  are  also  given  entire,  together  with  the  Resolution  of 
the  Diocese  of  New- York,  asking  for  the  remission  of  his  sentence. 
These  documents  were  carefully  excluded  from  the  records  of  the 
Church — not  the  slightest  mention  being  made  of  them  in  the 
Journal  of  the  House  of  Bishops,  as  published  in  the  proceedings  of 
the  Convention.  The  ruling  of  these  papers  out  of  the  published 
proceedings,  was  an  unjustifiable  procedure.  The  right  of  petition 
on  the  part  of  the  Diocese  was  thus  most  offensively  ignored ;  and  that, 
too,  without  even  a  protest  from  the  Provisional  Bishop,  who  was 
specially  bound  by  his  own  declaration  to  the  Convention,  to  pro- 
tect the  honor  and  dignity  of  the  Diocese!  This  concealment 
of  the  important  fact,  that  the  Diocese  of  New- York  had  itself 
petitioned  for  the  restoration  of  its  rightful  Diocesan  to  the  ex- 
ercise of  his  Ministerial  functions,  must  either  be  regarded  as  one 
of  the  evils  growine;  out  of  the  Secret  Sessions  of  the  House  of 
Bishops,  or  as  an  exemplification  of  those  remorseless  attempts  on 
the  part  of  his  enemies  in  the  Diocesan  Convention,  to  reduce  the 
name,  at  least,  of  the  afllicted  and  helpless  Bishop  of  the  Diocese, 
below  the  level  of  the  Provisional  standard.      It  is  hoped  that  both 


INTRODUCTORY.  13 

these  interesting  subjects,  which  will  be  found  partially  ventilated  in 
the  selections  we  have  made  from  The,  Churchman,  will  receive  the 
attention  they  merit  at  the  hands  of  the  Ecclesiastical  bodies  to 
which  they  respectively  relate.  But,  whatever  action  may  be 
taken  by  the  General  Convention,  whether  in  relation  to  closed 
doors,  or  the  disregard  of  Diocesan  rights  on  the  part  of  the  Upper 
House,  the  Annual  Convention  of  the  Diocese  of  New- York  should, 
before  the  meeting  of  the  next  General  Convention,  record  its  con- 
viction of  the  entire  innocence  of  Bishop  Ondcrdonk,  and  solemnly 
protest  against  the  injury  which  has  been  inflicted  upon  it  by  the 
Court  of  Bishops,  as  well  by  the  unjust  suspension  of  its  Bishop, 
as  by  the  persistent  and  painful  indifference  to  every  application 
for  redress  or  relief.  % 

The.  valuable  letter  of  the  Rev.  Dr.  Francis  Vinton,  in  relation  to  his 
last  interview  with  the  Bishop,  is  likewise  inserted  in  this  publication. 

As  Bishop  Onderdonk  died  protesting  his  innocence  of  the  charges 
for  which  he  was  condemned,  and  as  the  unbending  integrity  of  his 
life,  and  deep-toned  piety  of  his  declining  years,  have  given  to  that 
protest  the  weight  of  an  established  fact,  it  seems  most  fitting 
that  the  following  candid  confession  of  the  Southern  Churchman, 
that  well-known  receptacle  of  all  that  was  violent  and  unscrupulous 
in  its  opposition  to  the  late  Bishop  of  New- York,  should  here  find 
a  place,  as  an  illustration  of  the  force  of  the  Bishop's  dying  words. 
Speaking  of  Bishop  Onderdonk :  "  We  admit,''''  says  this  organ  of 
the  Puritan  party  in  the  Church,  "  that  his  recommendation  of  the 
'  Tracts  for  the  Times]  and  the  Ordination  of  Mr.  Carey,  and,  perhaps, 
more  than  all,  his  arbitrary  and  unjustifiable  conduct  at  the  close  of  the 
New- York  Convention  of  1813,*  proved  the  occasion  of  his  Trial.'''' 


*  Allusion  is  here  made  to  the  time  when  Bishop  Onderdonk  denied  the  right  of  any  Tiiember 
of  the  Convention  to  enter  a  protest  against  a  portion  of  the  Episcopal  Address,  on  which  occa- 
sion he  uttered  the.  following  remarkable  words  :  — 

"  I  sit  here  in  the  double  right  of  President  of  the  Convention  and  Bishop  of  the  Diocese. 
I  will  never  allow  a  paper  of  this  character  to  come  before  this  House,  or  to  go  on  the  Journal 
of  it3  proceedings.  I  shall  be  happy  to  receive  any  communication  which  the  clergy  or  laity 
of  my  diocese  may  hand  to  me  in  my  individual  capacity,  but  I  cannot  allow  such  a  document 
as  has  .just  been  read,  to  go  upon  the  Minutes,  or  be  made  a  matter  of  discussion.  The  Standing 
Committee  are  iny  only  legal  advisers,  and  their  counsel  I  shall  always  be  happy  to  receive. 
In  support  of  this  decision,  I  throw  myself  upon  the  Convention — upon  both  the  clergy  and 
laity  of  my  Diocese,  and  if  they  fail  to  sustain  me,  I  throw  myself  upon  a  Higher  Power,  and 
will  yield  the  principle  only  with  my  life." 


j[4  INTRODUCTORY. 

It  will  be  seen,  by  reference  to  the  proceedings  of  the  Diocesan 
Convention  of  1859,  respecting  the  restoration  of  its  Bishop,  that  the 
Churchmen    of    New- York    had    manifold    and    cogent    reasons    for 
looking  with    confidence    to    the   House  of  Bishops  for  a  favorable 
response  to   the  touching   Memorial,    at   that  time  presented  by  the 
Bishop,    for  the  removal  of  the  sentence   of  suspension.     But  they 
were    sadly   disappointed.        A   majority   of    the    Bishops,    instead 
of  manfully  meting    out  justice   to   the  Diocese  of  New-York,  and 
showing  that  they  loved  mercy  by  extending  that  boon   to  the  aged 
and  pious  Bishop,  suffered  themselves  to  be  controlled  by  influences 
brought    to    bear   upon  them   personally,   and  by  outside   conversa- 
tions, as  well  as  by  anonymous  pamphlets,  understood  to  be  issued  by 
authority  of  the  late  Rev.  Dr.  Anthon,  and  a  certain  rector  of  one 
of  our  city  churches,  who,  in  the  prosecution  of  his  ambitious  designs, 
is   only  saved   from  absolute  obscurity  by  the  intensity  of  a  conceit 
which  sometimes  renders  him  notorious;    and  whose  vulgar  harangue 
on  the  floor  of  the  Diocesan  Convention,  in  1859,  may  still  be  remem- 
bered.    But  neither  outside  influence  nor  anonymous  pamphlets  could 
have  prevailed  against  the  wishes  of  the  Provisional  Bishop.     Had  he 
been   alive  to  the  responsibility  assumed  by  him  at  the  meeting  of 
the  Diocesan  Convention,  the  action  of  the  Bishops  would  not  have 
resulted  unfavorably  to  the  Memorialist.     Bishop  Potter,  it  will  be 
remembered,  had  solemnly  said  to  the  Convention  of  the  Diocese,  in 
1859,  when  he  saw  that  its  members  were  determined  on  the  restora- 
tion of  their  Bishop,  "  If  I  go  to  Richmond,  you  will  find  in  me  no 
enemy,"  thereby  leading  the  friends  of  the  Bishop  to  suppose  that  he 
would  do  all  in  his  power  to  favor  the  resolution  of  the  Convention, 
as  finally  adjusted  and  adopted — such  resolution  having  been  freed 
from  all  objection,  and  made  satisfactory  to  him,  personally,  as  he 
then  took  occasion  to  remark.     And  yet,  when  called  upon  at  Rich- 
mond for  his  vote  by  the  Council  of  Bishops,  he  requested  to  be  ex- 
cused— thus  absolutely  declining  to   express   even   a    desire  for   the 
restoration  of   the  Bishop,   notwithstanding  it  was  well  understood 
that  a   majority  of  the  Council  would   have  yielded  to  the  Resolu- 


INTRODUCTORY.  15 

tion  of  the  Diocese  of  New-York,  had  the  Provisional  Bishop  inti- 
mated that  such  Resolution  was  agreeable  to  him.  It  need  scarcely 
be  added,  that  the  stand  taken  by  Bishop  Potter  on  this  occasion, 
was  not  only  regarded  as  an  unmistakable  indication  that  the  resto- 
ration of  Bishop  Onderdonk  would  be  unsatisfactory  to  him,  but  it 
gave  the  death-blow  at  once  to  the  Memorialist  and  his  application. 
Had  the  Council  disregarded  the  feelings  of  the  Provisional  Bishop  and 
acted  upon  that  universally  approved  maxim — 

"  Fiat  justitia  mat  ccclum,  " 

a  much  longer  time  might  have  elapsed  before  he  could  have  reached 
his  present  position,  as  the  Bishop  of  the  Diocese  of  New- York. 

The  fact  that  the  House  of  Bishops  were  thus  influenced  against  the 
restoration  of  Bishop  Onderdonk,  serves  but  to  increase  its  condem- 
nation, and  to  let  down  its  dignity,  in  the  eyes  of  the  Church 
Catholic,  as  a  judicial  tribunal. 

Of  the  authors  of  the  incendiary  documents  we  shall  say  but  little. 
The  city  rector  must,  ere  this,  if  not  ashamed  of  his  speech,  be 
heartily  disgusted  with  his  pamphleteering  adventure.  We  should 
so  judge,  at  any  rate,  from  the  fact  that  his  name  is  given  as 
an  attendant  at  the  recent  funeral  of  the  lamented  Bishop.  The 
Rev.  Dr.  Anthon,  whose  name  is,  unfortunately,  so  connected  with 
these  remarks,  that  we  know  not  how  to  pass  it  over  in  silence,  de- 
parted this  life  but  a  few  months  before  Bishop  Onderdonk.  Others 
implicated  in  the  Crusade  against  the  Diocese  of  New-York,  partly 
from  a  desire  to  check  the  rapid  progress  of  Church  principles,  but 
chiefly  from  personal  ill-will  to  its  Bishop,  who,  in  the  defence  and 
maintenance  of  those  principles,  had  often  incurred  their  animosity, 
have  also  gone  to  their  long  home;  and,  it  is  but  just  and  proper  to 
conclude,  that  had  not  feelings  of  personal  resentment  guided  the 
prosecution  against  Bishop  Onderdonk,  the  Diocese  of  New-York, 
instead  of  being  placed  for  sixteen  years  in  a  crippled  and  anomalous 
position,  would  have  been  a  model  to  the  Church  in  America,  and  a 
light  to  the  Church  throughout  the  world  ;  nor  should  we  now  be  de- 
ploring  the  loss  of  our  Bishop. 


16  INTRODUCTORY. 

But  the  history  of  the  suspension  of  the  Bishop  of  New- York  is 
yet  to  be  written  ;  and  it  remains  to  be  discovered  how  nearly  iden- 
tical is  the  so-called  evangelical  spirit  that  pursued  him,  with  that 
which  animated  the  Bishop  of  Vermont  and  his  inquisitorial  friends, 
when  he,  as  their  mouth-piece,  penned  his  celebrated  proposition  for 
an  Ecclesiastical  censorship  of  the  press,  as  the  only  reliable  antidote  to 
those  distinctive  principles  of  the  Church  which,  by  his  Ordination  and 
Consecration  vows,  he  had  solemnly  sworn  to  defend ! 

In  the  preparation  of  the  following  pages,  we  have  availed  our- 
selves of  the  most  authentic  sources  of  information ;  and,  in  relation 
to  what  may  be  termed  the  Secret  History  of  the  case,  we  have  spared 
no  pains  to  make  it  as  reliable  as  that  which  has  been  gathered  from 
the  printed  documents.  The  important  character  of  the  undertaking 
has  led  us  beyond  the  limits  at  first  prescribed,  and  thereby  unabled 
us  to  render  the  chain  of  events  more  complete  than  was  originally 
intended. 


©Htaars  Boiim. 


DEATH  OF  THE  BISHOP  OF  NEW- YORK.* 

The  Eight  Rev.  Benjamin  Tredwell  Onderdonk,  D.D.,  LL.D., 
Bishop  of  the  Diocese  of  New- York,  departed  this  life  on  last  Tues- 
day morning  (April  30th),  at  10  o'clock,  in  the  70th  year  of  his  age, 
after  an  illness  of  some  months,  which  he  bore  with  characteristic 
meekness  and  resignation.  Prayer  was  offered  up  for  him  last 
Sunday  in  most  of  the  churches  of  this  city — so  that  the  final  event 
was  not  wholly  unexpected.  The  Bishop  retained  the  full  possession 
of  all  his  faculties  to  the  latest  hour  of  his  life.  The  Blessed  Sacra- 
ment of  the  Body  and  Blood  of  Christ  was  administered  to  him  and 
his  family  on  Sunday  last  (April  28th),  by  the  Rev.  Dr.  Seabury,  the 
Rector  of  the  Church  of  the  Annunciation,  with  which  the  Bishop 
had  been  connected  as  a  regular  worshipper  ever  since  the  day  of  his 
unjust  and  illegal  sentence. 

Much  has  been  said  of  the  coolness  of  the  Provisional  Bishop 
towards  the  Diocesan  since  the  last  meeting  of  the  General  Conven- 
tion, he  having  not  seen  him  since  that  time  until  the  day  before  his 
death.  This  we  cannot  believe  ;  but,  if  true,  it  need  not  occasion 
surprise,  as  it  should  not  be  expected  that  he  who  had  been  deputed 
by  the  Convention  of  the  Diocese,  to  plead  the  cause  of  its  afflicted 
Diocesan,  could,  after  disparaging  that  cause  by  failing  to  advocate  it,, 
whether  accidentally  or  not,  find  much  congeniality  of  feeling  in 
subsequent  association  with  the  disheartened  Prelate.  Since  Bishop 
Potter,  by  the  Canon  which  provided  for  his  election,  now  becomes 
the  Bishop  of  New- York,  there  will,  doubtless,  be  an  energetic  move- 


•  From  The  Churchman  of  May  2,  1861. 

2 


18  OBITUARY   NOTICES. 

ment  at  the  next  Annual  Convention  to  divide  this  Diocese,  in  accord- 
ance with  the  well-known  sentiments  of  the  late  Bishop  Onderdonk. 

The  Bishop  had  been  gradually  declining  in  health  for  more  than  a 
year — his  illness  at  length  assuming  the  form  of  a  dropsical  affection 
of  the  chest,  superinduced  by  mental  anxiety,  arising,  unquestionably, 
from  the  cruel  treatment  he  received  at  the  hands  of  a  majority  of 
his  Episcopal  brethren  at  the  meeting  of  the  General  Convention  in 
1859,  when  the  last  lingering  hope  of  restoration  to  the  duties  of  his 
office  was  extinguished  by  the  reckless  and  unjustifiable  determination 
of  the  House  of  Bishops  to  resist  every  application  for  his  relief,  even 
though  such  application  be  based,  as  the  one  at  that  time  was,  upon 
the  unanimous  voice  of  the  Diocese  !  Advanced  in  years,  sinking  under 
his  trials  and  afflictions,  and  sighing  for  the  privilege  to  exercise  his 
ministerial  functions,  his  human  nature  was  unable  to  endure  the 
shock  of  the  adverse  decision,  and,  from  that  moment,  every  one 
familar  with  him  seemed  to  realize  the  fact  that  his  heart  was  broken 
and  his  spirit  crushed,  so  that  a  fitting  epitaph  for  his  tomb  might  be 
— "  Here  lies  the  once  powerful,  most  amiable,  and  much  beloved 
Bishop  of  New- York,  who,  instead  of  being  allowed  to  die  a  natural 
death,  was,  after  sixteen  years  of  bitter  persecution,  literally  crushed 
out  of  existence  by  the  House  of  Bishops  of  the  American  Church, 
regardless  alike  of  the  precepts  of  the  Gospel  and  even  of  the  com- 
mon impulses  of  the  unrenewed  heart." 

Bishop  Onderdonk  was  born  in  the  City  of  New-York,  in  July, 
1791.  In  the  year  1806,  at  the  age  of  fifteen,  he  entered  Columbia 
College,  at  which  institution  he  afterwards  graduated.  In  1812,  soon 
after  having  completed  his  twenty-first  year,  he  was  ordained  Deacon 
by  Bishop  Hobart ;  about  two  years  after  which  he  was  admitted  to 
the  Holy  Order  of  the  Priesthood,  at  Newark,  New- Jersey,  by  the 
same  friendly  hands.  In  1814,  while  yet  in  Deacon's  Orders,  he  was 
elected  an  Assistant  Minister  of  Trinity  Church  ;  and  in  1816,  he  suc- 
ceeded the  Rev.  Dr.  Lyell  as  Secretary  of  the  Diocesan  Convention, 
holding  the  office  until  October,  1830,  a  period  of  about  fourteen  years, 
when  he  was  elected  Bishop  of  New-York — scarcely  one  month  after 
the  Diocese  had  become  vacant  by  the  death  of  Bishop  Hobart.  It 
is  presumed  that  the  fact  that  this  Prelate  had,  sometime  before  his 
death,  expressed  a  desire  that  Bishop  Onderdonk  should  succeed  him 
in  the  administration  of  the  Diocese,  contributed  materially  to  such  a 
result.  The  other  candidates  for  the  office,  Drs.  Anthon  and  "YVain- 
wright,  were  scarcely  noticed  at  the  time  of  the  election,  the  former 


OBITUARY   NOTICES.  19 

receiving  but  six  votes,  and  the  latter  only  a  few  more  ;  whereupon 
the  Convention  passed  a  resolution  declaring  Dr.  Ondcrdonk  to  be  the 
unanimous  choice  of  the  Convention. 

lie  was  consecrated  at  S.  John's  Chapel,  in  this  city,  on  the  26th 
of  November  of  the  same  year,  about  four  weeks  alter  his  election. 
The  Prelates  who  officiated  at  his  Consecration,  were  Bishops  White, 
Brownell,  and  Henry  U.  Ondcrdonk.  lie  was  chosen  Bishop  of  New- 
York  with  tie  understanding  that  his  connection  with  Trinity 
Church  should  be  severed,  and  his  time  exclusively  devoted  to  the 
affairs  of  the  Diocese.  But,  owing  to  the  inadequacy  of  the  Episco- 
pal Fund  to  the  necessary  expenses  of  such  a  position,  he  continued  in 
connection  with  the  Parish  until  about  the  time  of  the  division  of  the 
Diocese,  when,  by  the  munificence  of  Trinity  Church,  the  provision 
for  exclusive  work  was  made  ample  by  the  increase  of  the  Fund. 

It  may   not  be  uninteresting   to   those  who  remember  the  exciting 
scenes  of  the  Annual  Convention  of  1843,  immediately  after  the  Ordi- 
nation of  Mr.  Carey,  when  Bishop  Onderdonk  was  compelled  to  resist 
the  measures  of  ambitious  and  designing  men,  attempting  to  degrade 
the  character  of  the  Episcopate  by  passing  public  censure  upon  that 
portion  of  his  Address  which  endorsed  the  course  of  The  Churchman,  to 
know  that  the  sublime  demonstration  then  made  by  him,  in  achieving 
that  memorable  victory  over  the  enemies  of  the  Church  of  Christ,  did 
not  arise  from  any   inordinate  love    of  Episcopal  power  and   rule. 
Such  a  conclusion  would  be  utterly  at  variance  with  the  fact  that 
Bishop  Onderdonk  was  never  known  to  utter  a  syllable  of  dissatisfac- 
tion at  the   proposal  to  divide  this  Diocese.     On  the  contrary,  he 
looked  with  such  particular  favor  upon  the  measure,  that  many  persons 
concede  to  him  the  absolute  origin  of  the  proposition.     He  loved  order 
above  all  things  in  legislative  councils,  and  God  had  blessed  him  with 
ti-anscendant   administrative  ability  to  secure   it.     For  this,  and  his 
matchless  devotion  to,  and  support  of,  the  distinctive  principles  of  the 
Church,  he  was  maligned  and  persecuted  ;   for  these  he  was  falsely 
accused,  tried,  and  fraudulently  deprived  of  his  right  to  exercise  the 
functions  of  his  office  ;   and,  from  servile  dread  of  the  further  exercise 
of  a  power,  every  way  important  to  the  best  interests  of  society  and 
the  Church,  the  iniquity  of  professing  Christians  bound  him  in  chains 
to  the  day  of  his  death. 

Bishop  Onderdonk  was  unwearied  in  the  use  of  his  pen,  ever 
boldly  asserting  and  defending  his  views.  As  an  able  and  forcible 
writer  and  strong  thinker,  he  has  left  many  valuable  contributions  to 


20  OBITUARY   NOTICES. 

the  literature  of  the  Church,  not  the  least  of  which  may  be  found 
scattered  through  the  columns  of  this  journal. 

He  took  a  deep  and  abiding  interest  in  the  affairs  of  the  General 
Theological  Seminary,  having  been  a  Professor  therein  ever  since  its 
establishment  in  this  city,  and,  if  we  mistake  not,  was  one  of  the  first 
Professors  in  the  original  institution,  looking  closely  after  its  interests 
throughout  all  the  changes  of  its  peculiar  history — almost  entirely 
without  pecuniary  reward.  And  yet,  who  would  believe  that  a  great 
hue  and  cry  was  raised  by  his  persecutors  because  a  few  earnest- 
minded  and  fearless  students  followed  him  into  his  retirement,  to  re- 
ceive his  godly  counsel  and  instruction  concerning  the  "  Nature,  Min- 
istry, and  Polity  of  the  Church  V 

The  decease  of  Bishop  Onderdonk  has  filled  the  minds  of  Church- 
men with  gloom,  and  startled  all  classes  of  the  people.  Every  man 
is  interested  in  the  event.  The  community  feels  that  a  great  wrong 
has  been  done  to  an  eminent  Bishop  of  the  Church,  and  begins  to  re- 
alize the  danger  to  society  of  the  unrestrained  exercise  of  ecclesiastical 
power  by  a  Court  of  Bishops,  who,  while  praying  in  the  language  of 
a  formulary  whose  principles  they  have  solemnly  sworn  to  illustrate 
and  enforce,  that  God  would  "  raise  up  those  who  fall,"  deliberately 
declare  to  the  world  that  their  vengeance  can  only  be  satisfied  by 
keeping  alive  the  fires  of  persecution,  until  the  head  of  their  victim  is 
bowed  in  death  !  But  especially  among  Churchmen  has  a  strong  re- 
action of  feeling  taken  place  concerning  the  trial  and  sentence  of 
Bishop  Onderdonk,  ever  since  the  House  of  Bishops  put  its  iron  heel 
upon  the  neck  of  the  Diocese  of  New- York,  by  resolutely  opposing 
its  unanimous  desire  for  the  restoration  of  its  Bishop.  Such  a  reac- 
tion occurring  in  State  affairs,  in  behalf  of  an  injured  official,  would 
secure  perpetual  infamy  and  disgrace  to  every  conspirator  in  the  origi- 
nal plot.  We  may  say,  however,  in  this  connection,  that  a  large 
majority  of  Churchmen,  in  this  Diocese  and  throughout  the  country, 
have  ever  firmly  asserted  and  maintained  the  entire  innocence  of  the 
Bishop. 

But  enough.  Rest,  dear  old  Bishop,  rest,  -within  thy  peaceful 
tomb,  where  no  false  friend  or  open  enemy  will  ever  venture  to  dis- 
pute thy  claim.  And,  as  often  as  we  allude  to  "  the  Noble  Army  of 
Martyrs"  who  praise  the  living  God,  we  will  think  of  thee,  for  thou 
wast  indeed  a  martyr,  and  wilt  not  be  denied  a  martyr's  crown ! 

"Eternal  rest  give  unto  him,  O  Lord  : 
And  let  perpetual  light  shine  upon  him." 


OBITUARY    NOTICES.  21 

[From  the  Chitrch  Journal  of  May  1,  1S01.J 

DEATH  OF  THE  BISHOP  OF  NEW-YORK. 

After  the  announcement  of  the  grievous  illness  of  the  Bishop  01 
the  Diocese,  our  readers  will  scarcely  be  surprised,  though  they  will 
be  deeply  grieved,  to  learn  that  he  is  no  more.  On  Sunday  he  re- 
ceived the  Holy  Communion  for  the  last  time  from  the  hands  of  the 
Rev.  Dr.  Seabury,  to  whose  Parish  he  had  attached  himself  for  more 
than  sixteen  years.  During  '.Monday  he  failed  rapidly  ;  and  on  Tues- 
day morning,  at  about  11  o'clock,  he  calmly  and  peacefully  departed, 
retaining  his  consciousness  almost  to  the  last  moment.  At  the  earnest 
request  of  many  of  the  city  clergy,  the  funeral  has  been  fixed  for 
Tuesday  of  next  week,  in  order  to  allow  full  opportunity  of  attend- 
ance on  the  part  of  the  clergy  and  laity  from  remoter  portions  of  the 
Diocese.  No  one  would  willingly  be  absent  on  this,  the  last  occasion 
for  manifesting  in  this  world  the  deep  regard  and  affection  enter- 
tained towards  one  who,  for  very  many  years,  has  been  so  severely 
tried. 

We  have  no  idea  of  re-opening  the  issues  which,  from  the  close  of 
the  year  1844,  and  for  some  time  after,  so  hotly  and  bitterly  divided 
the  Churchmen  of  this  and  other  Dioceses.  The  strength  of  the 
Church  for  administering  discipline  was  then  thoroughly  proved,  and 
put  to  a  severer  test  than  it  is  likely  soon  to  know  again.  That  the 
Bishop  of  the  strongest,  most  numerous,  and  most  wealthy  Diocese,  a 
leading  member  of  the  preponderating  party  in  the  Church,  one  who 
commanded  a  very  large  and  enthusiastic  majority  among  both  the 
clergy  and  the  laity  of  his  own  Diocese,  entrenched  in  the  hearts  of 
his  people,  supported  by  a  unanimous  Standing  Committee,  and  by 
the  almost  unanimous  voice  of  his  colleagues  in  every  local  institu- 
tion with  which  he  was  connected,  a  man  beloved  and  endeared  by 
his  genial  temper,  his  long  parochial  connection  with  Trinity  Church, 
his  life-time  of  service  among  the  leading  Church  families  of  this  city, 
and  last,  not  least,  by  his  indefatigable  labors  throughout  the  Dio- 
cese, and  his  extraordinary  powers  of  business  :  that  a  Bishop  like 
this,  we  say,  should  be  struck  down  in  his  own  chief  city  by  a  Court 
of  his  peers,  on  evidence  the  conclusiveness  of  which  was  loudly  de- 
nied by  his  friends  ;  that  he  should  be  visited  with  a  sentence  which  by 
some  high  legal  names  was  declared  to  be  null  and  void,  and  which 
left  his  faithful  Diocese  in  an  anomalous  position  that  for  a  long 
while  deprived  it  of  the  benefit  of  Episcopal  oversight  and  govern- 


22  OBITUARY   NOTICES. 

inent :  that,  under  all  these  adverse  circumstances,  the  discipline  of 
the  Church  should  have  been  carried  out  in  the  person  of  her  most 
powerful  Bishop  ;  that  the  sentence  should  have  been  submitted  to 
without  resistance  both  by  that  Bishop  and  his  Diocese  ;  that  such  a 
Bishop  should  have  been  put  down,  and  kept  down,  for  more  than 
sixteen  years,  and  until  the  hand  of  Death — more  merciful  than  the 
majority  of  his  brethren — released  him  from  the  bond  :  this  is  surely 
a  degree  of  strength  sufficient  to  command  the  unbounded  confidence 
of  Churchmen,  and  of  all  other  reflecting  men. 

As  to  the  Bishop  himself,  we  shall  only  say  that  here,  in  the  com- 
munity in  which  he  lived  from  birth  till  death,  and  where  only  he  was 
thoroughly  well  known — here  in  the  Diocese  to  which  he  has  always 
belonged,  and  which  has  a  right  to  speak  of  him  as  none  others  can 
— here,  we  say — except,  perhaps,  in  a  very  few  embittered  minds — 
the  idea  of  any  such  thing  as  "immorality"  or  "impurity"  in  con- 
nection with  Bishop  Onderdonk's  character,  has  long  ago  utterly  dis- 
appeared. Even  when  the  tempest  was  at  the  fiercest,  no  charge  was 
brought  against  him  later  than  three  years  before  his  trial ;  and  in 
presence  of  the  overwhelming  testimony  given  by  nearly  twenty  years 
of  a  spotless  life,  even  an  army  of  eager  accusers  must  needs  stand 
dumb. 

That  under  the  circumstances,  many  of  the  Bishop's  friends  should 
have  defended  him,  and  attacked  those  whom  they  regarded  as  his 
bitter  personal  enemies,  with  great  acerbity,  and  with  much  of  irri- 
tating and  unmeasured  denunciation,  was  to  be  expected,  as  unavoida- 
ble in  the  present  imperfection  of  human  nature.  But  the  Bishop 
himself  never  at  any  time  gave  utterance  to  aught  inconsistent  with 
Christian  charity  in  regard  to  those  who  had  acted  against  him.  He 
did  indeed,  once  and  again,  address  a  respectful  Memorial  to  the 
House  of  Bishops  requesting  a  restoration  to  the  exercise  of  his  juris- 
diction :  which  Memorials  he  received  permission  to  withdraw.  His 
restoration  was,  once  and  again,  requested  by  the  Convention  of  the 
Diocese :  and  yet  was  not  granted.  Meanwhile,  his  OAvn  course  of 
life  was,  from  the  moment  when  the  dark  cloud  descended  upon  him, 
such  as  could  not  fail  to  win  him  the  solid  and  enduring  regard  of  even 
those  who  might  have  been  doubtful  or  hostile  before.  He  secluded 
himself  entirely  from  all  appearance  in  the  public  eye,  unless  the 
anonymous  use  of  his  pen  in  The  Churchman  and  the  Churchman's 
Monthly  be  excepted — an  employment  in  every  way  congenial  to  his 
habits  and  suitable  to  his  retired  position — no  hint  of  his  authorship 


OBITUARY   NOTICES.  23 

being  given,  except  occasionally  the  modest  appearance  of  his  initials 
at  the  lower  corner,  and  in  later  years  not  even  that.  His  life  lias 
been  spent,  during  all  these  long  and  lonely  yens,  in  his  library,  with 
his  pen  and  his  books.  Kesisting  the  entreaties  of  all  his  friends,  he 
has  gone  abroad  nowhither  ; — nowhither  except  to  the  House  of  God, 
which  has  been  his  daily  resort.  Until  his  infirmities  increased  too 
much  upon  him,  he  might  be  met  daily  in  all  weathers,  avoiding  the 
main  thoroughfares  of  the  city,  but  wending  his  way  through  the 
quieter  streets  to  the  Church  of  the  Annunciation,  there  to  kneel  with 
the  few  that  know  how  to  prize  at  its  true  worth  the  privilege  of 
Daily  Prayer.  Often  have  we  thus  met  him  on  his  churchward  way, 
walking  with  downcast  look,  as  if  unwilling  to  attract  attention,  and 
saluting  only  those  who  spoke  first  to  him;  but  then  the  salute  was 
returned  by  him  with  a  genial  warmth,  tinged  with  sadness,  which 
went  at  once  to  the  heart. 

Thus  year  after  year  passed  away,  and  he  yet  lived  on  in  the  hope 
that,  at  last,  the  oft-defeated  and  yet  growing  desire  for  his  restoration 
might  perchance  be  granted.  In  every  effort  made  for  this  end,  the 
movement  originated  with  others,  not  with  him.  No  matter  how 
earnestly  he  might  desire  it,  he  said  no  word,  he  did  no  act,  looking 
towards  such  a  result,  until  others  approached  him  on  the  subject, 
and  urged  it  upon  him  as  the  desire  of  the  Diocese.  The  last  and 
most  promising  attempt  to  secure  this  long-expected  restoration  was 
in  1859,  when,  after  one  of  the  most  able  and  brilliant  debates  ever 
known  in  the  Convention  of  the  Diocese,  that  body  requested  the 
Bishop's  restoration  by  a  vote  so  overwhelming  that  it  was  hardly 
possible  to  believe  that  it  would  not  prevail  with  tho  House  of  Bishops. 
The  conviction  that  it  would  succeed  was  so  strong  and  universal,  the 
noble  stand  taken  by  Dr.  Hawks,  Dr.  Tyng,  and  Dr.  Cutler,  with 
others  once  reckoned  among  the  Bishop's  most  energetic  opponents, 
was  so  striking  a  proof  of  the  disappearance  of  former  prejudices,  and 
the  return  of  love  and  confidence,  that  the  whole  body  of  his  friends, 
and  the  Bishop  himself,  were  filled  with  a  hope  which  only  made  dis- 
appointment the  more  bitter  when  it  came.  There  was  no  complaint, 
indeed,  from  the  lips  of  him  who  was  then  drawing  near  to  the  ap- 
pointed limit  of  threescore  years  and  ten :  but  tho  hope  that  had 
been  firmly  planted  in  his  heart  through  so  many  years  of  sorrow  and 
long  waiting,  now  died  down,  withered  to  the  very  root.  There  was 
nothing  more  left  on  earth  to  live  for.  Little  by  little  proof  was 
given  that  the  strength  of  life  Avas  slowly  dropping  away.     There  has 


24  OBITUARY   NOTICES. 

been,  since  then,  a  gradual  and  steady  increase  of  infirmities,  of  one 
kind  or  other,  until,  in  February  last,  they  began  to  assume  a  serious 
form,  and  ere  long  developed  into  the  accumulation  of  water  on  the 
heart,  which  at  length,  though  with  little  of  pain  or  suffering,  quenched 
the  spark  of  life. 

"We  have  already  said  that  the  Bishop  never  suffered  himself  to 
speak  of  those  who  had  been  his  chiefest  and  bitterest  opponents,  ex- 
cept in  language  of  kindness  and  Christian  charity.  He  had  done 
more  than  this  :  he  had  often  earnestly  rebuked  those  of  his  friends, 
who,  in  his  presence,  spoke  otherwise.  During  his  last  illness,  this 
peculiar  proof  of  a  loving  heart  and  a  sanctified  spirit  shone  forth 
with  more  of  purity  and  strength  than  ever  before.  Again  and  again, 
when  able  to  converse,  did  his  dying  lips  give  utterance  to  the  beautiful 
thought  that  soon  he  would  meet,  in  the  presence  of  the  blessed  Jesus, 
those  from  whom  he  had  been  so  unhappily  separated  here  on  earth ; 
and  he  dwelt  with  the  utmost  gentleness  and  loving  sweetness  upon 
the  thought  that  there  all  misunderstandings  of  one  another  would  be 
removed,  all  misrepresentations  and  errors  be  done  away,  and  that 
together  they  would  be  "  accepted  in  the  Beloved." 

Dear,  good  old  man  !  Hundreds,  aye,  thousands,  from  all  parts  of 
the  Diocese  will  soon  stand  sadly  around  his  clay-cold  form,  in  the 
Church  where  for  so  many  years  he  has  worshipped  in  hope  ;  and 
their  hearts  will  burn  within  them  to  think  that  the  thick  cloud  was 
not  permitted  to  lift,  nor  even  one  brief  gush  of  sunshine  was  let  in  to 
lighten  the  evening  of  his  days.  But  it  is  vain  to  wish  now  for 
earthly-sunshine  as  any  blessing  to  one  who  has  passed  from  all  sor- 
rows and  darkness  here — even  through  the  valley  and  shadow  of  death 
— to  the  seven-fold  light  of  that  Heavenly  City  that  needeth  no  sun 
to  enlighten  it,  for  "  The  Lord  God  and  the  Lamb  are  the  Light 
thereof." 


[From  the  Churchman's  Monthly  Magazine  for  June,  1S61.] 

DEATH    OF    BISHOP    ONDERDONK. 

We  are  called  upon  to  record  the  decease  of  the  Right  Rev.  Benja- 
min Tredwele  Onderdonk,  D.D.,  Bishop  of  the  Diocese  of  New- 
York,  who  died  at  his  residence,  No.  35  West  Twenty-seventh  street, 
in  the  City  of  New- York,  on  Tuesday,  the  30th  day  of  April,  1861. 

Bishop  Onderdonk  had  been  suffering  for  some  weeks  from  water 


OBITUARY   NOTICES.  25 

on  the  chest,  but  it  was  not  until  a  few  days  before  his  decease  that 
any  immediate  danger  was  apprehended.  When  his  situation  was 
announced  to  him  by  his  warm  end  intimate  friend,  and  for  years  past 
attached  Paster,  the  Rer.  Dr.  Seabury,  the  intelligence,  although 
unexpected,  did  not  find  him  unprepared.  His  reply  was,  that  a 
Christian  man  should  always  be  ready  to  receive  the  warning,  come 
when  it  might,  lie  thanked  Mm  for  conveying  the  intelligence  to 
him,  and  stated  that  it  had  relieved  his  mind  of  a  great  weight  which 
had  pressed  upon  it,  in  the  possibility  that  his  family  might  not  be 
prepared  for  the  event.  His  uniform  cheerfulness  was  not  in  the  least 
discomposed.  On  Sunday,  between  Services,  he  received  with  his 
family,  by  his  own  appointment,  the  Holy  Communion,  joining  in  the 
Services  and  making  the  responses  in  an  audible  voice.  His  strength 
continued  to  fail  until  Tuesday  morning,  when,  without  a  struggle, 
calmly  and  tranquilly  he  resigned  his  spirit  into  the  keeping  of  his 
God  and  Saviour. 

His  sickness  and  death  were  a  complete  triumph  of  the  Christian 
virtues  over  the  weakness  of  poor,  fallen,  unassisted  humanity.  Not 
a  murmur  or  complaint  escaped  his  lips  during  his  entire  illness,  but 
a  beautiful  and  serene  cheerfulness  took  up  its  abode  in  his  breast, 
and  prompted  every  word  he  spoke  and  every  look  he  gave.  All 
within  was  love  and  peace.  His  only  trust  was  in  the  merits  of  his 
Saviour,  but  that  was  firm  and  unwavering.  And  he  not  only 
trusted  in  Him,  but  he  took  Him  as  an  example.  Wronged  and  in- 
jured as  he  had  been,  he  had  only  charity  and  forgiveness  for  those  at 
whose  hands  he  had  suffered  so  much,  and  a  wish  to  believe  that  how- 
ever they  had  been  misled,  they  could  reconcile  their  course  to  their 
own  consciences. 

Those  whose  privilege  it  was  to  be  with  him,  both  clerical  and  lay 
friends,  while  life  was  ebbing  away,  will  bear  witness  that  his  death 
was  the  death  of  a  righteous  man,  and  can  ask  no  higher  privilege 
than  that  their  "  last  end  may  be  like  his." 

But  however  his  broad  and  comprehensive  charity,  formed  in  the 
same  mould  with  that  of  his  Divine  Master  who  had  suffered  before 
him,  might  breathe  the  spirit  of  forgiveness  even  while  the  storm  and 
tempest  were  beating  upon  his  head,  meekly  bowed  beneath  the  stroke, 
he  felt,  and  the  Church  in  this  Diocese  and  elsewhere  feels,  that  he  has 
been  subjected  to  a  grievous  wrong.  It  is,  and  ever  will  be,  a  shame 
and  a  reproach  to  the  judicial  tribunals  of  the  Church,  that  men 
should  have  consented  to  sit  as  his  judges,  and  unite  in  his  condemna- 


26  OBITUARY   NOTICES. 

tion,  who  had  been  known  for  years  beforehand  to  be  openly  and 
notoriously  inimical  to  him.  It  is  a  shame  and  reproach  that  in  the 
face  of  the  fact  that  six  of  the  members  of  the  Court  entirely  ac- 
quitted him  of  the  charge  on  which  he  Avas  tried,  these  men  strove 
with  all  their  might  to  effect  his  deposition  And  when  they  were 
foiled  in  that,  and  the  sentence  of  suspension  was  passed  by  those  who 
intended  that  it  should  be  temporary,  it  is  a  shame  and  reproach  that 
these  same  men  should  have  been  the  stumbling  block  in  the  way  of 
its  removal,  whenever  the  attempt  to  effect  relief  was  made. 

The  movement  against  Bishop  Onderdonk,  as  is  well  known,  did 
not  originate  in  his  own  Diocese.     That  was  true  to  him,  and  stood 
by  him.      It  was  an  outside  influence,  with  sinister  purposes  in  view, 
which  allied  itself  to  a  few  disappointed  and  restless  spirits  here  to  work 
his  downfall.     It  altogether  ignored  the  Diocese  and  the  rights  of  the 
Diocese,  which  was  in  effect  told  that  it  was  not  competent  to  judge 
whether  its  Bishop  was  or  was  not  worthy  of  his  office.     It  was  there- 
fore bidden  to  stand  aside,  that  purer  and  holier  men  outside  of  the 
Diocese    might    discharge    the  duty  fur  which  it  was    incompetent. 
Under  this  Pharisaical  plea,  the  rights  of  the  Diocese  and  its  Bishop 
were  invaded  and  trampled  upon  by  what  we  pronounce  to  be  an 
irresponsible  and  lawless  assemblage.     And  when  we  say  this,  we  do  it 
upon   the  authority  of  the  Court  of  Bishops  themselves,  in  the  deci- 
sion subsequently  made  by  them  in   the  case  of  the  Bishop  of  New- 
Jersey.     In  that  case  they  decided  that  the  authority  given  to  three 
Bishops  to  present  another  for  trial,  was  conditional,  and  could  only 
be  exercised  where  the  Diocese,  whose  Bishop  was  to  be  presented, 
had  failed  or  refused  to  discharge  the  duty,  which,  in  the  first  instance, 
devolved  upon  it.    There  was  no  pretence  that  the  Diocese  had  proved 
recreant  to  its  duty,  or  were  unwilling  to  investigate  any  charges  that 
might  be  made.     The  presentment,  was  therefore  void,  and  the  Court, 
consequently,  had  no  jurisdiction,  and  was,  as  to  the  trial,  an  illegal 
assemblage,  whose  judgment  was  not  worth  the  paper  it  was  written 
upon.     But  irresponsible  power,  when  goaded  on  by  the  lash  of  pas- 
sion and  prejudice,  is,  in  the  attainment  of  its  object,  very  apt  to  bear 
down  or  overleap  the  restraints  of  law,  and  there  never  was  a  more 
signal  instance  of  this  than  in  the  proceedings  instituted  and  driven 
on  to  the  bitter  end  against  Bishop  Onderdonk. 

We  have  said  that  the  Church  in  this  Diocese  had  ever  been  faith- 
ful to  her  Bishop,  had  never  lost  her  confidence  in  him.  Always  a 
lover  of  order  ;   always  submitting  to  authority,  even  when  doubting 


OBITUARY   NOTICES.  27 

the  wisdom  or  justice,  or  even  Legality  of  its  exercise  in  the  particular 
case,  she  yielded  obedience  to  the  judgment.  lint  once  and  again  has 
she  knocked  at  the  door  of  the  House  of  Bishops  and  petitioned  for 
relief;  and  once  and  again  has  a  deaf  ear  been  turned  to  her  prayer, 
and  she  been  sent  remediless  away.  The  last  time  that  Bhe  asked  for 
redress  was  in  18.50,  and  it  was  in  a  voice  which,  though  respectful 
and  deferential,  was  uttered  with  such  overwhelming  unanimity  that 
a  favorable  response  was  looked  for  as  almost  certain.  When  the  fact 
became  known  that  the  great  Diocese  of  New- York  had  been  again 
spurned,  almost  with  contempt,  from  the  House  of  Bishops,  and  that 
her  petition  had  been  denied,  there  was  an  almost  universal  feeling 
that  she,  as  well  as  her  Bishop,  had  been  humiliated  and  condemned. 
That  tribunal  sits  with  closed  doors.  In  its  judicial  capacity  it  is  a 
secret  inquisition,  and  its  doings  reach  not  the  ear  of  the  Church  at 
large.  Nothing  can  therefore  be  said  of  what  transpires  within  its 
walls  which  maybe  regarded  as  authoritative.  It  is  known,  however, 
that  a  number  of  the  Bishops  were  in  favor  of  meeting  the  wishes  of 
the  Diocese,  and  restoring  its  Bishop  ;  while  it  is  strongly  asserted  that 
the  will  of  the  Diocese,  as  expressed  by  its  Convention,  was  not  urged 
upon  the  House  of  Bishops,  as  it  should  have  been,  by  the  one  [the  Pro- 
visional Bishop]  whose  position  made  him  be  regarded,  in  a  measure,  as 
the  representative  of  the  Diocese  in  that  body.  However  this  may 
be,  and  whatever  may  have  been  its  influence  upon  the  action  of  the 
House  of  Bishops,  the  result  was,  as  we  have  stated,  that  the  request 
of  the  Diocese  was  denied,  and  the  fetters  which,  with  almost  uncom- 
plaining fortitude,  Bishop  Onderdonk  had  been  wearing  for  fifteen 
long  ami  weary  years,  were  mercilessly  tightened  by  his  relentless 
judges.  Fifteen  long  and  weary  years !  And  which  one  of  those  who 
condemned  him,  during  that  age  of  exile,  ever  called  upon  him  in  his 
solitude,  ever  sent  him  a  single  line  of  fraternal  admonition,  advice,  or 
counsel  ?  Surely,  had  they  believed  him  guilty,  they  would,  if  the 
Spirit  of  Christ  had  dwelt  in  their  hearts,  have  sought  by  every  means 
within  their  power  to  win  him  back.  But  the  spirit  which  prompted 
his  condemnation,  dried  up  and  withered  in  the  breasts  of  his  adverse 
judges  all  Christian  sympathy  towards  him,  and  made  them  neglect, 
what,  according  to  their  own  view  of  his  case,  was  their  plain,  Chris- 
tian duty. 

But  we  turn  from  this  dark  shadow  to  a  brighter  picture.  The 
wrath  of  man  could  not  take  from  the  Bishop  the  comfort  which  a 
conscience  void  of  offence  never  fails,  even  under  the  most  trying  afllic- 


28  OBITUARY  NOTICES. 

tions,  to  bestow.  In  his  retirement  he  exhibited  a  uniform  cheerful- 
ness and  serenity  of  mind,  which  attracted  the  observation  of  all  who 
were  brought  in  contact  with  him.  This  was  strengthened  and  in- 
creased by  the  manifold  evidences  he  experienced  of  the  continued  and 
uninterrupted  friendship  and  confidence  of  the  army  of  friends  by 
whom  he  was  surrounded.  And  it  is  a  significant  fact,  that  those  who 
knew  him  longest,  and  most  intimately,  in  both  his  public  and  private 
life,  who  had  been  with  him  in  the  unrestrained  intercourse  of  private 
friendship,  from  his  youth  up,  continued  strong  and  unwavering  in 
their  friendship  to  the  last,  and  extended  to  him  their  undiminished 
confidence. 

Being  a  man  of  large  and  generous  sympathies  and  open-handed 
charity,  the  poor  always  found  in  Bishop  Onderdonk  a  friend  ready 
to  relieve  their  wants,  and  to  administer,  with  the  tenderness  of  a 
father,  that  comfort  and  support  so  grateful  to  the  bereaved  and 
stricken  spirit,  when  coming  from  one  who  can  enter  into,  and  feel  the 
sorrows  which  he  seeks  to  assuage.  The  poor  generally,  but  especi- 
ally those  faithful  and  laborious  clergy  of  his  Diocese,  whose  labors 
Were  abundant,  but  whose  lives  were  spent  amid  privations  and  dis- 
couragements, knew  where  they  could  always  go  for  counsel,  encour- 
agement, and  comfort,  and  never  go  in  vain.  It  was  these  traits 
which  attached  his  clergy  to  him  so  warmly,  and  made  those  who 
knew  him  best,  and  were  most  intimate  with  him,  his  strongest  and 
most  unshaken  friends.  It  was  these  traits  which,  in  the  last  years 
of  his  life,  led  such  numbers  to  seek  him  in  his  retirement,  to  open  to 
him  their  griefs,  to  ask  for  guidance  and  counsel,  amid  the  difficulties 
which  encompassed  them,  and  enabled  them  to  come  forth  from  his 
presence  comforted  and  strengthened  for  the  battle  of  life  in  which 
they  were  engaged.  Many  a  moistened  eye  has  testified  to  the  irre- 
parable loss  which  such  as  these  have  sustained.  The  death  of  Bishop 
Onderdonk  cast  a  gloom  upon  the  Diocese,  and  the  intelligence  of  his 
decease  touched  a  spring  which  caused  the  feelings  of  affection,  so  long 
pent  up,  to  flow  forth  in  an  unrestrained  and  almost  overwhelming 
outbreak. 

Dr.  Seabury,  in  compliance  with  the  tmanimous  request  of  the 
meeting  of  the  day  previous,  delivered  the  discourse.  It  had  been 
felt  that  he,  of  all  others,  was  the  one  upon  whom  this  duty  should 
devolve.  From  his  boyhood  to  the  hour  of  the  death  of  his  Bishop, 
his  relations  towards  him  had  been  of  the  most  intimate  character. 
For  the  last  sixteen  years  the  Bishop  had  been  a  constant,  almost 


OBITUARY    NOTICES.  29 

daily  attendant  at  his  church.  He  had  administered  to  him  the 
Communion  two  days  before  his  decease.  He  could,  therefore,  speak 
as  none  other  could.  The  Sermon  was  a  noble  tribute  of  love,  confi- 
dence, and  affection,  towards  one  for  whom  respect  and  love  had 
grown  stronger  and  deeper  as  the  night  of  affliction  revealed  clearer 
and  brighter  the  heavenly  lights  which  dwelt  within  his  soul.  The 
testimony  there  borne  to  his  moral  purity  and  integrity,  built  upon  a 
lifetime  of  intimate  unrestrained  intercourse  and  friendship,  did  but 
express  the  universal  sentiment  of  the  vast  assemblage  then  present. 
The  statement  that  he  had  never  heard  him  utter  a  word  which  might 
not  have  been  spoken  in  the  presence  of  the  angels  of  God,  was  the 
highest  eulogy  which  could  have  been  pronounced. 
********* 

After  the  Services  were  concluded  the  lid  was  removed  from  the 
coffin,  and  an  opportunity  given  to  all  who  might  desire  it  once  more 
to  look  upon  the  features  of  the  departed.  There  was  scarcely  one 
in  that  vast  assemblage  who  did  not  take  a  parting  farewell.  And 
there  is  none  who  will  forget  the  spirit  of  calm  repose  which  rested 
upon  that  countenance.  It  was  as  if  he  had  just  fallen  into  a  tran- 
quil slumber.  The  whole  expression  was  that  of  peace,  gentleness, 
and  love.  And  as  the  throng  gathered  around,  bent  over  him,  and 
then  sadly  passed  on,  many  a  tear,  fresh  from  aching  hearts,  dropped 
its  tribute  of  affection  upon  his  coffin,  upon  which  were  laid  flowers 
wreathed  by  loving  fingers  into  crosses,  crowns,  and  wreaths ;  and, 
in  the  language  of  the  Church  Journal,  "  thousands  stood  sadly 
around  his  clay-cold  form,  and  their  hearts  burned  within  them  to  think 
that  the  thick  cloud  was  not  permitted  to  lift,  nor  even  one  brief  gush 
of  sunshine  was  let  in  to  lighten  the  evening  of  his  days." 


[From  the  New- York  Express  of  May  8,  1861.] 

BISHOP  ONDERDONK'S  FUNERAL. 

Few  more  suggestive  spectacles  have  ever  been  witnessed  in  New 
York  than  that  of  yesterday  (May  7th),  when  the  funeral  solemnities 
of  Bishop  Onderdonk  were  celebrated  at  Trinity  Church,  by  the  clergy 
and  people  of  what  had  once  been  Ins  Diocese.  The  immense  con- 
course that  crowded  to  pay  respect  to  his  memory,  that  filled  the 
church  and  overflowed  into  the  church-yard,  and  into  the  public 
streets,  the  long  procession  of  priests  and  deacons  who  joined  in  the 


30  OBITUARY   NOTICES. 

solemn  .Services  which  he  whom  they  commemorated  had  so  often  led, 
contained  a  signal  though  tardy  tribute  to  the  character  of  the  departed 
prelate.  Tardy,  indeed,  for  many  of  the  men  who  participated  in 
those  Services  had  contributed  to  degrade  their  Bishop— had  volunteered 
to  bring  a  reproach  upon  him  and  the  branch  of  the  Church  of  which 
he  was  the  head ;  though  now  repentant  in  spirit,  they  united  with 
his  life-long  friends  in  exculpating  his  memory.  When  the  form  of 
the  venerable  man  was  brought  into  that  church  of  which  he  had 
formerly  been  the  Minister,  and  deposited  in  the  chancel  where  he 
had  once  been  used  to  celebrate  the  highest  and  holiest  rites  of  religion, 
but  which,  of  late,  he  might  not  enter  save  as  a  recipient  instead  of  a 
ministrant ;  when  he  who  has  held  and  still  holds  the  place  of  the 
injured  Bishop  appeared  as  chief  mourner,  and  the  people  Avho  had 
been  deprived  of  their  Father  in  God,  were  allowed  to  see  him  before 
the  Altar,  it  is  true,  but  laid  low  in  death — it  was  impossible  to  forget 
much  that  many  would  wish  forgotten. 

If  Bishop  Onderdonk  was  really  worthy  of  the  commemoration 
paid  him  yesterday  by  Ministers  and  Bishops,  and  by  the  Diocese,  he 
was  also  one  of  the  most  persecuted  and  maltreated  of  men.  If  he 
deserved  the  eulogiums  pronounced  on  him  by  solemn  vote  of  clergy 
and  laity,  then  has  a  noble  man  been  deprived  of  his  just  due  ;  a 
worthy  Christian  been  unjustly  maligned  ;  an  innocent  person  visited 
with  the  severest  punishment.  Then  has  he  displayed  an  example  of 
the  most  saint-like  charity  and  unprecedented  humility  ;  suffering  evils 
the  worst  that  could  be  inflicted  on  him,  the  loss  of  honor,  friends, 
station,  power,  good  name,  and  the  respect  of  good  men,  with  a  meek- 
ness and  a  patience,  a  forgiveness  of  enemies,  that  have  few  paral- 
lels in  history.  That  after  all  this,  his  closing  years  should  provoke 
even  his  injurers  to  join  in  a  demonstration  like  that  of  yesterday, 
celebrating  his  excellences  and  bewailing  his  loss,  is  one  of  the  most 
remarkable  instances  of  the  power  of  a  good  life  to  live  down  asper- 
sion and  ill-will. 

But  the  old  man  knew  not  of  this.  He  had  suffered  without 
receiving  the  solace  of  a  vindication  of  his  name ;  he  had  died  with  a 
blot  on  his  character.  The  eulogium  had  not  reached  his  ear  ;  the 
commendation  assuaged  not  his  spirit.  He  died  solemnly  asseverating 
his  innocence,  declaring  at  the  most  awful  hour  of  his  existence,  when 
about  to  receive  the  last  consolation  of  that  religion  which  alone  could 
afford  him  any  comfort  then — that  his  conscience  acquitted  him  of  the 
faults  of  which  he  had  been  accused  and  for  which  he  had  been  con- 


OBITUARY   NOTICES.  31 

demncd.  His  conscience  and  the  fidelity  of  some  stanch  friends  were 
his  rapport  during  seventeen  years.  His  staff  of  office  was  never 
restored  to  him,  nor  the  charge  of  his  flock;  his  heart  was  broken, 
and  he  sank  into  his  grave,  the  victim — if  the  doings  of  yesterday 
were  not  an  unmeaning  mockery — of  one  of  the  hitterest  and  most 
causeless  calamities  that  have  ever  fallen  on  man. 

Ilis  friend  was  chosen  to  deliver  his  funeral  sermon  ;  and  poignant 
as  doubtless  was  the  grief  of  that  friend,  the  service  must  have  been 
joyfully  accepted.  The  friend  who  for  nearly  fifty  years  had  known  the 
Bishop  in  an  intimacy  such  as  exists  but  seldom  between  man  and 
man;  who  had  supported  him  in  power,  and  solaced  him  in  weakness; 
who  had  fought  his  battles  and  borne  his  burdens;  who  had  trusted 
in  him  always,  and,  in  his  turn,  never  been  found  wanting;  who  had 
ministered  to  him  in  holy  things  when  the  Bishop  himself  was  debarred 
from  the  functions  of  his  office  ;  who  had  even  been  permitted  to  dis- 
tribute the  Sacred  Elements  to  the  dying  man  ;  the  friend  who,  in  all 
this  intimacy,  never  discovered  an  indication  in  word  or  feeling  of  the 
impurity  or  immorality  for  which  the  sufferer  was  condemned — that 
friend  was  selected  to  pi-onounce  the  last  public  discourse  on  Bishop 
Onderdonk's  merits  and  character.  The  character  which  could 
awaken  such  a  profound  and  tender  friendship  in  a  man,  towards  a 
man,  and  keep  it  alive  for  nearly  half  a  century — which  could  prompt 
and  foster  such  devotion  through  good  report  and  through  evil  report 
— receives  in  this  fact  its  best  encomium,  its  most  successful  vindica- 
tion. The  task  assigned  that  friendship  was  worthily  performed  ; 
tearfully,  but  with  due  deference  to  the  solemnities  of  the  occasion. 
No  attempt  was  made  to  revive  the  flames  of  smouldering  fires — but 
all  justice  was  done  to  the  memory  of  him  who  was  on  that  occasion, 
for  the  first  time  in  many  years,  spoken  of  as  "our  Father  in  God." 

But  what  a  comment  on  human  judgments  and  human  justice  did 
this  tardy  tribute  to  a  dead  man's  memory  inevitably  suggest ! 


dtoqmes  of  %  ^Igljf  $dr.  l&tytnf  ©ntorfomk. 


PRELIMINARY  MEETING  OF  THE  CLERGY  AND  LAITY 

OF  THE  DIOCESE. 

In  the  arrangements  for  the  funeral  of  the  Right  Rev.  Benjamin 
Tredwell  Onderdonk,  D.D.,  Bishop  of  the  Diocese  of  New- York, 
it  was  originally  intended  that  the  clergy  and  friends  should  meet  at 
the  residence  of  the  deceased,  and  accompany  the  body  to  the  Church 
of  the  Annunciation,  where  the  Bishop  had  been  a  daily  worshipper 
from  the  period  of  his  unjust  suspension  until  his  last  illness.  This 
arrangement,  however,  was  unsatisfactory  to  many  who  felt  that  it 
would  not  afford,  by  any  means,  an  adequate  opportunity  to  express 
the  long  pent-up  feelings  of  the  Churchmen  of  New- York,  and  Trinity 
Church  claimed  it  as  her  right  that  the  Bishop,  whose  whole  paro- 
chial ministry  had  been  spent  in  her  Parish,  should  receive  the  last 
Sacred  Rites  at  her  Altar.  This  change  occasioned  a  slight  complica- 
tion in  regard  to  the  meeting  of  the  clergy  and  laity.  The  Provis- 
ional Bishop,  who  was  absent  from  the  city  on  a  visitation  at  the  time 
of  the  decease  of  the  Bishop,  as  soon  as  information  reached  him, 
telegraphed  to  the  city  calling  a  meeting  of  the  clergy  at  the  place 
where  the  funeral  was  to  be  celebrated,  and  one  hour  previous  to  that 
named  for  the  commencement  of  the  Service — not  knowing  that  this 
would  call  the  meeting  at  the  residence  of  the  deceased.  When  it  was 
determined  to  hold  the  funeral  at  Trinity  Church,  another  call  was 
issued  by  the  venerable  rector,  the  Rev.  Dr.  Berrian,  and  a  number 
of  the  leading  clergy  of  the  city.  It  was  responded  to  on  Monday, 
May  Gth,  at  3  o'clock  p.m.,  in  Trinity  Church,  where,  in  the  midst  of 
a  pouring  rain,  several  hundred  of  the   clergy  (some  of  them  from 


OBSEQUIES.  3 


q 


remote  parts  of  tho  Diocese),  and  :i  large  number  <>t'  the  leading  laity, 
assemble  I  to  do  honor  to  the  departe  1.*  When  they  arrived,  however, 
they  found  the  Burial  Service  about  to  be  performed  over  the  remains 
of  the  late  Mr.  Henry  I.  Seaman — (he  funeral  from  some  misunder- 
standing having  been  appointed  at  the  same  hour.  At  its  conclusion, 
the  Eight  Eev.  Bishop  Potter  arrived,  and  at  the  call  of  the  Rev.  Dr. 
Crcighton,  took  the  chair,  with  a  few  brief  remarks,  explaining  the 
circumstances  detailed  above,  respecting  the  change  in  the  arrange- 
ments. 

The  Rev,  Dr.  Eigenbrodt  and  the  Rev.  Dr.  Leonard  were  appointed 
Secretaries.  On  the  nomination  of  Dr.  Vinton,  a  Committee  was  ap- 
pointed, consisting  of  the  Rev.  Drs.  Crcighton,  Seabury,  Hawks, 
Tyng,  and  Iligbee,  who  retired  to  prepare  Resolutions  ;  and  on  their 
return,  the  following  were  read  by  Dr.  Hawks,  and  unanimously 
adopted  : 

"  Whereas,  Almighty  God,  in  His  All-wise  Providence,  has  been  pleased  to  take 
away  by  death,  the  Eight  Eevercnd  Benjamin  Tbkdwell  Onderdonk,  D.  D.,  Bishop 
of  the  Diocese  of  New-York,  we,  the  clergy  of  the  Diocese,  desire  to  render  to  his 
memory  our  appropriate  tribute,  and,  therefore,  adopt  the  following  resolutions  : 

" Resolv< -nl,  That  we  cheerfully  acknowledge  the  services  rendered  to  the  Church  of 
New-York  in  the  discharge  of  the  duties  of  the  Episcopate  by  our  departed  Bishop 
while  in  the  active  exercise  of  his  charge  ;  and  heartily  thank  God  for  the  good  which, 
by  his  diligent  and  faithful  labors,  our  heavenly  Father  permitted  and  enabled  his 
deceased  servant  to  effect.  And  we  here  record  our  conviction,  found,  d  on  the  per- 
sonal knowledge  of  our  older  clergy,  and  by  their  testimony  confirmed  to  us  who  are 
their  younger  brethren,  that  it  would  be  unjust  to  say  less  of  him  than  that  he  has 
been  excelled  by  very  few  who  have  filled  the  Episcopal  chair  in  our  branch  of  the 
Church,  in  an  ardent  desire  to  promote  what  he  deemed  her  interest  and  prosperity,  in 
an  untiring  zeal  to  aid  in  her  welfare,  and  in  indefatigable  labors  in  the  performance  of 
his  duties  over  the  most  extended  Diocese  in  our  country,  embracing  for  several  years 
the  entire  territory  of  the  State  of  New-York. 

" Resolved,  That,  as,  under  the  circumstances  which  in  the  latter  portion  of  his 
days  prevented  him  from  the  active  discharge  of  Episcopal  duties,  and  removed  him  from 
the  observation  of  the  greater  part  cf  the  clergy,  he  had  personal  intercourse  with 


*  Tho  following  is  a  copy  of  the  notice  issued  : 

"  [C7"  The  Clergy  of  the  Diocese  of  New- York  are  requested  to  meet  in  Trinity  Church,  on 
Monday,  May  G,  at  3  o'clock,  p.  M.,  to  express  their  respect  for  the  memory  of  their  late  Bishop 
Right  Rev.  Bsnjamin  T.  Ondekdomk. 

"  Those  of  the  Laity  who  shall  please  to  attend  the  meeting,  will  be  cordially  welcomed. 
,:  The  funeral  of  Bi=hop  Onderdonk  is  appointed  on  Tuesday,  May  7th,  at  Trinity  Church,  at 
3  o'clock,  r.  m. 

Wra.  Berrian,  J.  II.  Hobart,  Samuel  S.-abury, 

Francis  L.  Hawks,  Morgan  D'x,  Joseph  II.  F:icc, 

John  MeVickar,  Samuel  II.  Turner,  Stephen  II.  Tyng, 

r.nj aminC.  Cutler,  E J.  Y.  Iligbee,  "W.  G.  Eigenbrodt, 

Samuel  R.  Johnson,  Francis  Vinton,  Frederick  Ogilby, 

Clement  C.  Moore,  Theodore  A.  Eaton." 


34  OBSEQUIES. 

few  save  the  attached  private  friends,  -who  saw  him  in  the  seclusion  of  a  sorrowing  yet 
submissive  spirit  which  acquiesced  with  resignation  in  God's  dispensations  ;  yet  does 
this  meeting  express  its  belief,  on  the  uniform  testimony  of  thoso  who  communicated 
with  him  in  his  sorrows,  that  by  God's  grace  he  had  transmuted  adversity  into  a  bless- 
ing and  snatched  from  sorrow  itself  a  Christian  solace.  We  rejoice  to  think  and 
believe  as  we  do,  that  a  sanctified  affliction  but  served  more  strongly  to  develop  in 
him  and  brought  out  into  prominent  relief,  the  Christian  virtues  of  patience,  submis- 
sion forgiveness,  and  faith  in  his  Redeemer,  beautifully  blended  with  an  unobtrusive 
and  modest  cheerfulness,  which  never  indulged  in  complaint,  nor  uttered  words  of 
bitterness  and  crimination.  To  the  general  tenor  of  his  life  in  his  latter  days,  we  all 
can  bear  witness,  and  gladly  say  that,  as  a  man  and  a  Christian,  we  do  not  believe 
(making  all  due  allowance  for  the  infirmities  to  which  all  of  us,  even  the  best,  are 
subject)  that  any  one  can  with  truth  cast  an  imputation  on  his  consistent  Christian 
conduct.  "We  rejoice  to  hear  that  his  closing  hours  were  marked  by  the  calmness  and 
peace  of  a  dying  believer,  who  felt  himself  sustained  by  the  faith  he  had  in  a  crucified 
Saviour  ;  and  that  at  the  close  of  his  long  and  much  saddened  life,  he  gently  fell  asleep 
in  Jesus,  and,  as  we  trust,  has  found  repose  in  the  Paradise  of  God,  'Where  the  wicked 
cease  from  troubling,  and  where  the  weary  are  at  rest.'  " 

This  meeting  not  answering  the  full  end  and  design  for  which  it  was 
called,  several  of  the  leading  clergy  and  laity  present,  immediately 
after  its  adjournment,  held  an  informal  meeting  in  the  vestry  room  of 
the  church,  when  proper  arrangements  were  made  with  reference  to 
the  funeral  solemnities  of  the  following  day.  At  this  meeting  the 
Rev.  Dr.  Vinton  was  appointed  to  read  the  resolutions  above  given, 
together  with  those  of  the  Standing  Committee  of  the  Diocese  and  of 
the  Faculty  of  the  General  Theological  Seminary,  and  also  to  make 
the  statement  of  the  Bishop  in  his  last  illness,  declaring  his  innocence 
of  the  charges  brought  against  him.  The  Rev.  Dr.  Seabury  was 
also  appointed  to  deliver  the  funeral  sermon  ;  but  be  declined,  as  he 
had  previously  done  ;  yet  he  was  at  length  prevailed  upon  to  accede  to 
the  wishes  of  his  brethren. 


THE  FUNERAL  AT  TRINITY  CHURCH.* 

If  anything  were  needed  to  convince  gainsayers  of  the  unswerving 
devotion  of  the  Churchmen  of  New-York  to  their  late  Right  Rev. 
Father  in  God,  nothing  would  have  been  better  suited  to  such  pur- 
pose than  the  sight  presented  at  his  funeral  in  Trinity  Church,  on 
Tuesday,  May  7th.  It  was,  as  has  been  well  observed,  the  "  most 
imposing  demonstration  of  respect  and  affection  ever  rendered  to  a 
Bishop  in  our  Church." 


•  From  The  Church  Journal,  with  slight  alterations  and  additions. 


OBSEQUIES.  35 

The  church,  long  before  the  appointed  hour,  was  filled  to  overflow- 
ing, and  thousands,  many  of  whom  had  come  from  distant  parts  of 
the  Diocese,  were  unable  to  obtain  an  entrance,  and  thronged  the  ves- 
tibule, the.  churchyard,  and  the  sidewalk.  A  hundred  of  the  clergy 
in  surplices  (besides  at  least  as  many  more  in  gowns  or  citizens'  dress), 
entered  the  great  door  at  three  o'clock,  and  stood  on  either  side  of  the 
whole  length  of  the  middle  alley.  Through  this  double  line  the  sur- 
pliced  choristers,  officiating  clergy,  and  the  Bishops  of  New- York, 
Western  New- York,  and  New-Jersey,  moved  down  to  the  door  to 
meet  the  body,  which,  as  they  returned,  was  borne  after  them,  on 
men's  shoulders.  It  was  covered  with  a  purple  pall,  in  which  was 
wrought  a  white  Cross  ;  the  pall  being  the  same  as  that  used  at  the 
funeral  of  the  late  Bishop  Doane,  of  New-Jersey.  Upon  the  pall 
were  placed  a  Cross,  a  Crown,  and  a  Mitre,  composed  of  camelias, 
orange  flowers,  white  rosebuds,  Deutzia  gracilis,  and  white  heath. 
The  body  was  accompanied  by  the  following  clergymen  as  pall-bearers, 
robed  in  their  gowns  and  stoles  :  The  Eight  Rev.  Horatio  Southgate, 
D.  D.,  the  Rev.  Drs.  Berrian,  Creighton,  Brown.  Price,  Cutler, 
Hawks,  Leonard,  Porter,  Parker,  S.  R.  Johnson,  W.  L.  Johnson, 
McVickar,  and  the  Rev.  Messrs.  Haskins,  Mallaby,  Gallaudet,  Dra- 
per, and  Duffie. 

After  the  mourners  had  passed,  the  double  line  of  surpliced  clergy 
closed  in  and  moved  on,  followed  by  the  other  clergy,  the  Faculty  and 
students  of  the  General  Theological  Seminary,  the  New- York  Bible 
and  Common  Prayer  Book  Society,  the  Protestant  Episcopal  Tract 
Society,  and  other  Church  Institutions,  the  procession  being  closed  by 
the  children  of  Trinity  School. 

The  Altar  and  reredos  were  all  in  black,  as  was  also  the  Episcopal 
chair,  which  stood  empty  throughout  the  Service.  The  whole  of  the 
chancel  furniture,  the  lectern,  and  the  pulpit,  were  draped  in  black, 
the  gloom  being  relieved  by  the  candelabra  of  many  wax  lights  on 
either  side,  and  one  group  of  lights  also  on  the  Altar.  For  nearly  an 
hour  the  sky  had  been  overcast  with  clouds,  and  some  rain  had  fallen, 
but  as  the  procession  entered  the  church,  the  Bishop  of  Western  New- 
York  saying  the  opening  Sentences,  the  clouds  began  to  clear  away. 
The  sanctuary  and  choir,  so  dark  with  their  drapery  of  black,  were 
now  filled  up  with  rank  on  rank  of  snowy  surplices — and  when  the 
bearers  let  down  their  sacred  burden  in  the  choir,  the  sunlight  burst 
forth  clear  and  strong,  pouring  its  full  flood  of  purple,  and  crimson, 
and  golden  light,  through  the  stained  glass  windows  upon  the  dead  in 


36  OBSEQUIES. 

the  centre  of  the  choir — thence  overflowing  it  bathed  all  the  pavement 
underneath,  and  soon  silently  stole  downward  towards  the  pall-bearers, 
painting  their  sable  robes  with  splendid  hues,  and  kindling  their  hoary 
locks  into  silver  and  gold  ;  and  by  and  by,  moving  further,  with 
broader  slant,  until  it  diffused  itself  among  the  multitudes  of  the  great 
congregation. 

Meanwhile  the  voices  of  the  full  double  choir  had  begun  the  an- 
them, "Lord,  let  me  know  my  end,"  which  was  sung  solemnly  and 
slowly.  The  Lesson  was  read  by  the  Eev.  Dr.  Iligbee  ;  after  which, 
by  request,  the  Rev.  Dr.  Francis  Vinton  read  the  following  preamble 
and  resolutions,  unanimously  adopted  by  the  Standing  Committee  of 
the  Diocese  on  Friday,  May  3d  : 

"Whereas,  On  Tuesday,  the  30  th  day  of  April,  it  pleased  Almighty  God,  in  His  wise 
Providence,  to  remove  from  this  earthly  scene  of  trial  the  Canonical  head  of  our  Diocese, 
the  Right  Rev.  Benjamin  Tredwell  Onderdonk,  D.  D.,  Bishop  of  New-York,  it  be- 
comes the  duty  cf  the  Standing  Committee  to  enter  on  their  Minutes  an  appropriate 
record  of  the  same  ;    therefore, 

"Resolved,  That  such  entry  now  be  made,  with  the  following  expression  of  their 
feelings.  Long  withdrawn  from  his  official  duties,  under  a  judicial  sentence,  believed 
by  many  to  be  of  doubtful  validity — .hat  cf  indefinite  suspension — Bishop  Onderdonk 
has  been  known  to  the  Church  for  more  than  sixteen  j'ears  only  through  the  medium 
of  private  intercourse,  ill  the  bosom  cf  his  family,  and  in  the  deep  retirement  of  an 
humble  and  saddened  spirit.  By  nature  full  cf  affection,  kindness,  and  courtesy — graces 
which  failed  him  not  through  all  his  trials — ho  had  yet  to  learn,  in  the  hard  school  of 
adversity,  the  still  higher  virtues  of  forgiveness,  patience,  submission,  and  resignation; 
seeking,  in  the  shades  of  retirement  and  in  the  faithful  discharge  cf  the  duties  that  yet 
remained  to  him  as  a  man  and  a  Christian,  that  peace  of  mind  which  the  world  cannot 
give  ;  closing,  as  he  has  now  done,  a  long  and  chequered  life  in  the  comfort  and  sup- 
port of  an  humble,  penitent,  and  thankful  fai.li. 

"The  Standing  Committee  would  far. her  record,  that,  during  their  long  official  in- 
tercourse with  Bishop  Onderdonk,  in  his  active  Episcopate,  through  a  period  cf  more 
than  fourteen  years,  they  ever  found  him  the  courteous  gentleman,  the  learned  canon- 
ist, the  judicious  counsellor,  the  firm  untiring  administrator  of  the  concerns  of  this  great 
Diocese,  which,  for  more  than  seven  years  of  his  Episcopate,  comprehended  the  whole 
State  of  New-York. 

"  Under  these  convictions  and  feelings  this  entry  is  now  made,  and  a  copy  of  the  same 
is  directed  to  be  sent  to  his  bereaved  family,  with  the  deep  sympathies  of  this  Com- 
mittee." 

Dr.  Vinton  also  read  the  resolutions  passed  at  the  meeting  of  clergy 
and  laity  in  Trinity  Church,  on  Monday,  May  <>th  (given  on  p.  30), 
and  the  resolutions  adopted  by  the  Faculty  of  the  General  Theological 
Seminan-,  as  follows  : 

"  At  the  call  of  the  Dsan  a  special  meeting  of  the  Faculty  of  the  General  Theological 
Seminary  was  held  May  G,  1861,  i'a  reference  to  the  decease  (if  the  Right  Rev.  Benjamin 
T.  Onderdonk,  1).  D.,  when  the  following  Preamble  and  Resolutions  were  presented  by 
Dr.  Turner,  and  unanimously  adopted  : 


OBSEQUIES.  l>7 

"We  have  learnedwithdeep  ragrel  thai  owe  Right  Rev.  Father,  Benjamin  T.  Ondeb- 
dobk  D.  D.,  has  been  removed  from  the  present  Btate  of  trinl  to  tin-  Paradise  of  God. 

Since  December  19,  1821,  hj  occupied  in  this  Institution  the  position  of  Professor  of  th  ■ 
Nature.  Ministry,  and  Polity  of  the  Church  ;  and,  since  his  c  tnsecration  to  the  Episco 
pal  office,  always  presided,  when  present,  at  the  meetings  of  tlio  Faculty.  His  long 
continued  .services  as  Professor  were  gratuitous,  and  cnti:lo  his  memory  to  high  respect 
and  grateful  affection.  Bsing  a  man  of  clear  mind  and  good  practical  sense,  of  indus- 
trious habits  and  untiring  efforts — always  gentlemanly  and  agreeable  in  demeanor, 
readily  acceding  to  the  wishes  of  a  majority  of  his  coadjutors,  even  when  not  in  accord- 
ance with  his  own — he  was  remarkably  successful  in  all  business  matters  of  adminis- 
trative and  executive  character,  and  habitually  respected  by  his  brother  Professors. 
His  instructions  in  the  department  of  Church  Polity  were  in  accordance  with  his  well- 
known  views — not  at  all  indefinite,  but  very  decided  and  strongly  impressive.  His 
kindness  of  disposition  and  amiablencss  of  manners  made  him  beloved  by  both  the 
Faculty  and  the  students.  The  sympathy  which  ho  habitually  showed  to  the  bereaved 
and  afflicted;  his  soothing  and  charitable  treatment  of  the  poor  and  needy;  the  quiet 
patience  with  which  he  bore  tho  afflictions  whereby  he  was  distressed  ;  embalm  the 
memory  of  him  as  a  practical  Christian  in  the  hearts  of  all  who  knew  him. 

"Keeping  in  mind  the  virtues  of  the  deceased,  the  Faculty  unanimously  pass  the 
following  Resolutions : 

"Resolved,  That,  with  proper  regard  to  the  providential  agency  of  God  in  taking  out 
of  this  world  the  soul  of  our  deceased  Father,  we  desire  to  express  our  Christian  sub- 
mission thereto  in  the  language  of  tho  Divine  Master — '  Thy  will  be  done.' 

1  Resolved,  That,  from  due  respect  to  the  memory  of  our  Eight  Ecv.  Head,  the  usual 
badge  of  mourning  be  worn  for  thirty  days  ;  and  that  on  the  day  appointed  for  his  in- 
terment the  ordinary  exercises  of  the  Seminary  be  omitted. 

"Resolved,  That,  in  order  to  express  our  most  sincere  sympathy  with  the  bereaved 
family,  and  especially  with  the  deeply  afflicted  widow,  a  copy  of  the  foregoing  preamble 
and  resolutions  be  respectfully  communicated  to  her. 

"Resolved,  That  the  same  be  published  iu  our  Church  papers  in  this  city." 

The  Rev.  Dr.  Vinton,  then,  in  a  few  brief  words,  narrated  the  sub- 
stance of  his  last  interview  with  Bishop  Onderdonk,  shortly  before  his 
death,  when,  at  his  own  request,  a  portion  of  the  Office  for  the  Visi- 
tation of  the  Sick  was  used.  In  answer  to  the  epiestion,  "  Whether 
he  repented  him  truly  of  his  sins  ?"  the  dying  Bishop  did  most  hum- 
bly and  truly  testify  his  penitence  for  all  his  sins,  known  and  un- 
known :   adding,  however,  with  deep  and  earnest  feeling,  "  Of  the 

CHARGES   UPON   WHICH    I    HAVE    BEEN    CONDEMNED,    MY     CONSCIENCE 
ACQUITS  ME  IN  THE  SIGHT  OP  GOD." 

The  following  verses  of  the  201st  Hymn  were  then  read  by  the  Rev. 
William  C.  Doane,  and  sung  with  great  power  and  effect  by  the  choir 
and  congregation  ;  the  hymn  was  a  favorite  one  with  the  Bishop,  and 
was  felt  by  all  present  to  be  singularly  appropriate  to  the  occasion  : 

"  Who  are  these  in  bright  array  ? 
This  innumerable  throng, 
Round  the  Altar  night  and  day 
Tuning  their  triumphant  song  ? 


38  OBSEQUIES. 

Worthy  is  the  Lamb  once  slain, 

Blessing,  honor,  glory,  power, 
Wisdom,  riches,  to  obtain  ; 

New  dominion  every  hour. 

"These  through  fiery  trials  trod, 

These  from  great  affliction  came ; 
Now  beforo  the  throne  of  God, 

Seal'd  with  His  eternal  name  : 
Clad  in  raiment  pure  and  white, 

Victor  palms  in  every  hand, 
Through  their  great  Redeemer's  might 

More  than  conquerors  they  stand." 

The  Sermon  was  preached  by  the  Rev.  Dr.  Seabury,  and  there 
would  have  been  a  manifest  inappropriateness  in  its  being  preached  by 
any  one  else.  He  chose  for  his  text  the  words  of  our  Lord  concerning 
S.  John  the  Baptist,  "  He  was  a  burning  and  a  shining  light :  and  ye 
were  willing,  for  a  season,  to  rejoice  in  his  light.  "*  "We  shall  undertake 
no  analysis  of  this  able  and  admirable  discourse  ;f  nor  will  we  attempt 
to  forestall  the  reading  of  that  full  account  of  the  earlier  life  of  the 
Bishop,  and  the  incidents  of  his  ministerial  and  Episcopal  career  up 
to  the  time  when,  in  the  height  of  his  powers,  his  reputation,  and 
his  usefulness,  he  was  "  buried  alive :"  nor  that  much  more  winning 
and  edifying  picture  of  his  patience  under  nearly  seventeen  years  of 
punishment,  cheered  only  by  a  hope  which,  when  it  died,  left  him 
nothing  on  earth  to  live  for.  The  preacher,  from  his  childhood,  had 
known  the  Bishop,  and  in  the  strongest  language  bore  testimony  to  his 
moral  purity,  declaring  that,  during  all  that  intimate  friendship  of 
almost  a  whole  lifetime,  he  had  never  known  that  Bishop  to  utter  any- 
thing that  he  should  have  been  unwilling   the   angels  of  God  should 


*  It  is  an  interesting  fact  that  these  were  the  words  chosen  by  Bishop  Onderdonk  as  the  text 
of  the  sermon  preached  by  him  on  the  death  of  Bishop  Hobart. 

t  The  sermon  was  first  delivered  in  the  Church  of  the  Annunciation,  on  the  Sunday  following 
Bishop  Onderdonk's  death  ;  and  was  repeated,  with  slight  alterations,  at  the  request  of  his 
family  and  a  number  of  his  clergy,  and  with  the  sanction  of  the  Bishop  of  the  Diocese,  at  his 
funeral  in  Trinity  Church.  It  has  since  been  published  at  the  request  of  the  Bishcp3  and  clergy 
who  heard  it,  and  in  compliance  with  the  following  resolution,  which  the  Vestry  of  Trinity 
Church,  with  characteristic  liberality  and  with  a  laudable  desire  to  honor  the  memory  of  their 
departed  Bishop,  adopted  and  ordered  on  their  Minutes : 

"Resolved,  That  a  copy  of  the  sermon  on  the  death  of  the  late  Bishop  Onderdonk,  be  requested 
of  Dr.  Seabury  for  publication,  and  that  one  thousand  copies  be  published  for  gratuitous  distri- 
bution, and  the  expenses  attending  the  same  be  paid  by  the  Comptroller. 
"A true  copy. 

(Signed,)  •«  G.  M.  Ogden,  Clerk." 


OBSEQUIES.  39 

hear,  or  that  ho  would  wish  unsaid  at  the  Day  of  Judgment.  In  an- 
swer to  the  concluding  prayer  of  tin-  preacher  that  we  might  all  have 
grace  through  Jesus  Christ  our  Lord,  to  follow  after  the  patience,  for- 
giveness, and  humility  of  him  who  was  now  gone,  there  was  heard. 
over  all  the  congregation,  a  solemn  and  deep  Amen. 

A  tier  the  ascription  and  the  singing  of  the  Gloria  Patri,  Dr.  Vinton 
intoned  the  remainder  of  the  Burial  Service,  except  that  the  sentence, 
"I  heard  a  voice,"  was  sung  with  great  feeling,  as  an  anthem,  by  the 
choir.      The  choral  Amens  at  the  end  of  the  concluding  prayers  and 
the  Blessing,  filled  the  air  with  softly  swelling  and  dying  harmony  ; 
and  after  the  hush  that  followed,  the  dense  ci'owds  of  clergy  first,  and 
people  afterwards,  slowly  and  sadly  moved  upwards  towards  the  chan- 
cel, to  behold  the  placid  face  of  him  whom  they  were  henceforth  to 
see  no  more  on  earth.      He  lay  shrouded  in  his  Episcopal  robes  as  a 
Bishop    ought  to  lie  in  his  last    sleep,  his  features  as  calm  as  if    he 
had  died    only  the  evening  before,  and  would    surely  awake  in  the 
morning.      The  shades  of  evening  began  to  fall,  and  still  the  stream 
moved  up  the  broad  alley  towards  that  glooming  choir,  as  if  it  would 
never  end,  for  not  only  had  the  church  and  every  available  spot  within 
it,  up  to  the  very  throat  of  the  chancel,  been  filled,  but  there  was  a 
great  gathering  of  hundreds  outside  the  door,  and  spreading  along  the 
churchyard  on  either  side  of  the  nave,  who  had  waited  patiently  in 
hope  that  once  more  they  might  look  upon  that  reverend  face.      At 
length,  when  it  was  almost  dark  night,  the  lingering  few — who  had 
remained  to  the  end  because  their  love  was  the  dearest — looked  their 
last  and  went  their  way,  weeping  aloud  as  they  went :   and  left  the 
body  in  the  dark  and  silent  church  alone  with  the  watchers.      All  the 
ni^ht  long  the  watchers — the  chief  of  whom  was  the  Rev.  Dr.  John- 
son, of  the  General  Theological  Seminary,  one  of  the  most  devoted  of 
the  Bishop's  friends — remained  there  with  the   dead  ;    and  at  mid- 
night, and  at  the  cockcrowing,  and  in  the  morning,  the  great  church 
was  filled  with  the  voice  of  prayer  and  praise.       On    Wednesday, 
at  10  o'clock,  a.  M.,  once  more  a  large  company  of  clergy  and  others 
assembled,  and  accompanied  the  body  to  Trinity  Cemetery,  where  now 
"he  sleeps  in  peace." 


ffrilrtttes 


TO     THE 


MEMORY    OF    BISHOP    ONDEKDONK. 


RESOLUTIONS  PASSED  BY  THE  STANDING  COMMITTEE  OF  THE  BOABD 
OF  TRUSTEES  OF  THE  GENERAL  THEOLOGICAL  SEMINARY  OF 
THE  PROTESTANT  EPISCOPAL  CHURCH  IN  THE  UNITED  STATES, 
AT  THEIR  MEETING,  HELD  IN  THE  CITY  OF  NEW-YORK,  MAY  13th, 
1861. 

Whereas,  It  has  pleased  Almighty  God,  in  His  all-wise  Providence,  to 
remove  from  his  manifold  trials  and  sufferings  on  earth  to  the  rest  of  Para- 
dise 
D. 

Ministry,  and  Polity 
of  the  Protestant  Episcopal  Church  in  the  United  States,  from  the  date  of 
the  present  organization,  A.  D.  1821  • 

And  the  Standing  Committee  desiring  to  place  on  their  Minutes  their 
sentiments  on  this  solemn  occasion,  as  a  well-deserved  trihute  of  respect  to 
the  memory  of  the  deceased  Prelate  ;  therefore, 

Resolved,  That  the  Standing  Committee  entertain  the  liveliest  sense  of 
the  invaluable  services  rendered  to  the  cause  of  religious  education  and 
sound  doctrine  by  Bishop  Onderdonk — by  his  vigorous  discharge  of  the 
duties  of  his  Professorship  for  nearly  a  quarter  of  a  century,  gratuitously 
rendered ;  the  dignity  and  urbanity  of  his  demeanor  as  a  member  of  the 
Facultj',  and  his  affectionate  intercourse  with  the  students  ;  the  impres- 
sive, clear,  and  judicious  manner  in  which  he  imparted  his  instructions  ; 
the  unvarying  earnestness  with  which  he  upheld  the  authority  of  the 
Christian  Church  as  a  Divine  institution  ;  and  the  happy  results  of  his 
teaching,  as  witnessed  by  a  large  body  of  the  Alumni  who  enjoyed  them, 
and  still  bear  witness  to  their  efficacy. 

Resolved,  secondly,  That  they  cordially  testify  to  the  courtesy  ar.d  effi- 
ciency  with  which,  while  in  the  active  performance  of  his  Episcopal  duties, 
he  presided  over  the  proceedings  of  this  Committee,  and  the  deep  interest 
he  manifested  in  all  measures  calculated  to  promote  tho  welfare  of  tlia 
Institution. 


TRIBUTES    OF    RESPECT.  41 

RESOLUTIONS  OF  THE  BOAED  OF  TRUSTEES  OF  THE  GENERAL  THEO- 
LOGICAL SEMINARY,    PASSED   AT  THEIR   MEETING,   JUNE  29th, 

18G1. 
On  motion  of  the  Bishop  of  Western  New-York,  it  was 
Resolved.  That  tho  Board  of  Trustees*  of  the  General  Theological  Semi- 
nary put  on  record  this  expression  of  their  Bense  of  the  value  of  the  able, 
faithful,  untiring,  and  gratuitous  services  of  tho  lato  Right  Rev.  Benjamin 
Tredwell  Onderdonk,  D.  D.,  while  an  acting  Trustee  and  Professor  of  this 
Institution,   for   almost  tho  quarter  of  a  century;  and    the   assurance  of 
their   sympathy  and  condolence  with  his  friends   and  family,  on  his  de- 
cease. 

Resolved,  That  the  Secretary  transmit  a  copy  of  the  above  to  the  family 
of  tho  deceased,  and  have  it  inserted  in  the  periodicals  of  the  Church. 


RESOLUTIONS  PASSED  BY  THE  NEW-YORK  BIBLE  AND  COMMON 
PRAYER  BOOK  SOCIETY,  AT  THEIR  REGULAR  MEETING,  HELD  ON 
THE  FEAST  OF  S.  BARNABAS,  1861. 

The  death  of  the  Right  Rev.  Father  in  God,  Benjamin  Tredwell 
Onderdonk,  I).  D.,  the  Bishop  of  this  Diocese,  and  tho  President  of  the 
Society  and  Chairman  of  its  Board  of  Managers,  being  announced  as  having 
taken  place  at  his  residence  in  this  city  on  the  30th  April,  1861,  since  the 
last  meeting  of  this  Board — the  following  notitice  of  the  late  Right  Rev. 
Prelate's  connection  with  this  Society  were  ordered  to  be  entered  on  the 
Minutes  of  the  proceedings  of  this  Board  as  a  testimony  of  affectionate 
respect  for  the  deceased,  viz. : 

This  Society  was  organized,  A.  D.  1809,  composed  of  clergy  and  laity. 
By  its  Constitution  the  Board  of  Managers  consisted  of  nine  laymen  and 
all  the  clergy  of  the  Church  residing  in  tho  city  of  New-York. 

Immediately  after  his  Ordination,  in  1812,  we  find  him  at  his  seat  in  tho 
Board  of  Managers,  and  the  next  year  he  took  an  active  part  in  having 
the  children  of  the  free  schools  of  the  city,  whose  parents  belonged  to 
tho  Church,  provided  with  Church  sittings  aud  Prayer  Books.  He  con- 
tinued his  labors  in  tho  Board  as  a  manager  until  the  annual  meeting  of 
the  Society,  held  on  tho  feast  of  S.  Matthias,  in  1816,  when  he  was  elected 
Secretary,  the  duties  of  which  ho  continued  to  discharge  punctually  until, 
on  the  demise  of  Bishop  Hobart,  he  was  consecrated  Bishop  of  the  Dio- 
cese of  New-York,  in  November,  1830,  when  he  became  President  of  the 
Society  and  Chairman  of  the  Board  of  Managers,  ex  officio,  from  which 
time  he  presided  at  all  the  annual  meetings  of  the  Society  and  of  its 
Board  of  Managers,  as  a  matter  of  conscience  and  of  duty,  up  to  the  day 
that  the  sentence  was  inflicted  upon  him  by  the  House  of  Bishops,  in 
January,  1845,  "  suspending  him  from  all  exercise  of  Episcopal  and  Min- 
isterial functions,"  from  which  time  he,  as  modestly  and  conscientiously, 
refrained  from  the  exercise  of  his  functions  as  the  head  of  this  institution 
which  was  not  touched  by  the  sentence.  But  during  the  long  years  of  his 
involuntary  retirement  from  his  cherished  field  of  Episcopal  labor  up  to 


*  The  Trustees  of  the  General  Theological  Seminary  have  ever  recognized  and  stood  by  the 
Bishop  of  New- York.  When,  at  the  meeting  in  1S45,  resolutions  were  introduced  involving  his 
removal  from  his  office  as  Professor  in  the  Institution,  they  were  laid  on  tho  table  by  a  vote  of 
forty-one  against  eleven.  Among  the  votes  cast  were  ten  given  by  Trustees  of  Dioceses  whose 
Bishops  had  united  in  the  condemnation  of  Bishop  Onderdonk,  and  these  stood  seven  in  favor  of 
retaining  him  as  Professor  and  three  against. 


42  TKIBUTES  OF   RESPECT. 

the  day  he  was  taken  from  us,  he  continued  to  manifest  the  liveliest  interest 
in  the  Society's  behalf. 

And  whereas,  it  has  pleased  the  Great  Head  of  the  Church  to  take  to 
Himself  our  late  Right  Rev.  Father  in  God,  and  our  President,  therefore5 
be  it — 

Resolved,  By  this  Board,  that,  in  humble  submission  to  the  mysterious 
Providence  •which,  during  the  last  half  of  his  Episcopate,  caused  our  lato 
President 

"Through  fiery  trials  to  tread," 

and  lias  now  removed  him  from  our  midst  to  his  reward  in  Paradise— this 
Board  cannot  refrain  recording  on  its  Minutes,  their  acknowledgments  of 
the  faithful  and  eminent  services  rendered  this  Society  from  the  commence- 
ment of  his  connection  with  it ;  and  their  afflictive  sense  of  the  loss,  which 
it,  in  common  with  the  other  interests  of  the  Church,  has  sustained  in  the 
death  of  the  illustrious  deceased.  And  also  their  uufeigned  union  in 
the  numerous  demonstrations  and  well-deserved  tributes  of  respect  and 
affection,  which  have  already  been  paid  to  his  memory  in  this  Diocese  and 
the  Diocese  of  his  former  charge  —  Western  New- York  —  to  his  dis- 
tinguished talent  and  zeal  as  a  Christian  Bishop — to  the  exemplary  urban- 
ity of  his  deportment — to  the  uniform  firmness  and  integrity  of  his  char- 
acter— to  his  unobtrusive  piety  and  meekness — and  to  his  crowning  glory 
— his  patient  and  uncomplaining  sufferings  as  a  Confessor  and  Martyr, 
"for  Christ  His  Body's  sake." 


RESOLUTIONS  OF  THE  NEW-YORK  P.  E.  TRACT  SOCIETY. 

The  death  of  the  Right  Rev.  Benjamin  Tredwell  Onderdonk,D.  D.,  the 
Bishop  of  this  Diocese,  and  President  of  this  Society,  having  been  an- 
nounced as  having  transpired  since  the  last  meeting  of  this  Board,  the  fol- 
lowing notitice  were  ordered  to  be  entered  upon  the  Minutes  of  its  proceed- 
ings. 

This  Society  was  organized  in  this  city  in  the  year  A.  D.  1810.  Bishop 
Onderdonk  graduated  from  Columbia  College  in  this  City  in  theyear  1809, 
and  was  admitted  to  Deacon's  Orders  in  1812,  immediately  engaged  to 
assist  in  Divine  Service  at  Trinity  Church,  and  elected  Assistant  Minister 
therein,  October  30,  1813. 

Bishop)  Ilobart  was  President,  ex  officio,  of  this  Society  from  his  conse- 
cration in  1811,  to  the  day  of  his  death,  in  1830. 

From  the  earliest  records  of  this  Society  now  extant,  it  appears  that  in 
1816  the  late  Bishop  was  a  member  of  the  Committee  on  Selections, 
which  place  he  held  until  the  day  of  his  consecration  as  Bishop,  Nov.  26, 
1830,  when  ho  became  its  President  and  Chairman  of  the  Committee  on 
Selections,  ex  officio,  and  so  continued  until  the  day  of  his  death,  on 
April  30,  1801. 

From  the  well-known  energy,  zeal,  and  activity  of  the  Bishop  in  his  early 
life — his  early  and  close  connection  with  his  friend  Bishop  Ilobart,  and 
early  associations  with  him  as  one  of  the  assistant  miniisters  of  Trinity 
Church — it  is  natural  and  safe  to  suppose,  that  he  was  among  the  first 
founders  of  this  institution.  Hence  the  fact  is  as  conclusive  as  it  is  pleas- 
ing and  satisfactory,  that  all  the  tracts  upon  the  catalogue  of  this  Society, 
down  to  the  close  of  1830,  havo  received  the  careful  revision  of  two  of 
the  most  learned,  eminent,  and  doctrinally  sound  Bishops  of  the  American 
Church,  and  continued  by  the  late  Bishop  until  a  very  short  period  ante- 
cedent to  his  death. 


TRIBUTES   OF   RESPECT.  43 

Therefore,  in  grateful  acknowledgment  of  the  eminent  services  which 
our  late  President  and  Bight  Bev.  Father  in  Cod  has  rendered  by  his 
labors  in  this  Society  to  tho  cause  of  religious  truth,  sound  Church  doc- 
trine, and  the  Apostolic  Succession,  ho  it — 

Resolved,  That  wo  cherish  a  grateful  sense  of  his  labors  in  carrying  out 
the  objects  of  this  Society — his  many  manly  virtues — his  punctuality  in 
his  attendance  at  all  tho  meetings  of  this  Board,  as  appears  from  its  records 
— and  especially  as  its  presiding  officer  after  he  had  entered  upon  the 
Episcopate — his  uniform  kindness  and  urbanity  in  the  discharge  of  his 
official  duties,  and  tho  interest  always  manifested  by  him  in  promoting 
the  welfare  and  usefulness  of  tho  Society,  and  his  paternal  care  for  the 
spiritual  good  of  its  members. 

Resolved,  That  a  copy  of  this  entry  be  sent  to  the  family  of  the  deceased 
by  the  Secretary  of  this  Society. 


RESOLUTIONS  OF  THE  STUDENTS  OF  THE  GENERAL  THEOLOGICAL 
SEMINARY. 

At  a  meeting  of  the  students  of  the  General  Theological  Seminary,  held 
on  Thursday  morning,  the  2d  of  May,  to  take  action  relative  to  the  death 
of  the  Bishop  of  New- York — the  Dean,  the  Bev.  Milo  Mahan,  D.  D., 
presiding — the  following  preamble  and  resolutions  were  unanimously 
adopted : 

Whereas,  It  hath  pleased  Almighty  God  to  remove  by  death  from  among 
us,  the  Bight  Bev.  Benjamin  Tredwell  Onderdonk,  D.  D.,  Bishop  of  the 
Diocese,  and  for  thirty-nine  years  Professor  of  the  Nature,  Ministry,  and 
Polity  of  the  Church,  in  this  Institution:  And, 

Whereas,  We  hold  in  pleasant  remembrance  the  gentle  virtues,  the  dig- 
nified humility  of  the  deceased,  and  the  peaceful  termination  of  a  long  and 
much-tried  life;  therefore,  be  it 

Resolved,  That  while  we  bow  with  profound  resignation  to  the  Divine  will, 
we  esteem  it  our  mournful  duty — no  less  than  sad  pleasure — to  place  on 
record  this  tribute  of  our  respect  for  the  memory  of  the  departed,  for  his 
learning,  and  for  the  paternal  affability  which  distinguished  him  in  his 
relations  as  Professor  and  friend. 

Resolved,  That  while  we  tender  to  the  relatives  and  friends  of  the 
deceased,  the  assurance  of  our  unfeigned  sympathy  in  their  affliction,  we 
remind  them  and  ourselves  of  the  consolation  which  we  have  in  the  hope 
of  a  blessed  resurrection. 

Resolved,  That,  as  a  token  of  our  respect,  we  attend  the  funeral  of  our 
late  Bight  Bev.  Professor  in  a  body. 

Resolved,  That  a  copy  of  these  resolutions  be  sent  to  the  family  of  the 
deceased,  and  also  to  the  leading  Church  papers. 

Edmund  Guilbert,  ) 

Charles  F.  Bobertson,  >  Committee. 
Henry  G.  Perry,  ) 

New-York,  May  2, 18G1. 


46  TRIBUTES   OF    RESPECT. 

A  fadeless  crown  of  amaranthine  bloom, 

A  heavenly  recompense  awaits  thee  now  ; 
Thy  rest  is  gained,  thy  Saviour's  loving  hand, 

His  own  right  hand,  shall  place  it  on  thy  brow. 

"Warm  friends  and  true  are  gathered  round  thy  bier, 

And  eyes  are  wet,  and  anguished  bosoms  swell ; 
O  many  a  heart  will  hold  thy  memory  dear  ; 
My  Father,  friend  and  Bishop,  fare  thee  well ! 

e.  w. 
May  5th,  1861. 


$>\t  Crnsabe  against  %  ^isljo^  of  Icto-forli 


EARLY  MANIFESTATIONS  OF  HOSTILITY. 

Prominent  in  the  early  history  of  the  causes  which  led  to  the  present 
ment  and  trial  of  Bishop  Onderdonk,  stand  the  names  of  the  Right  Rev. 
Philander  Chase,  late  Presiding  Bishop,  the  Right  Rev.  C.  P.  Mcllvaine, 
and  the  Rev.  James  C.  Richmond. 

The  notorious  instrumentality  of  the  latter,  as  a  minister  of  vengeance 
in  preparing  evidence  for  the  trial,  may  be  accounted  for  by  the  salutary 
check  which  his  self-proposed  elevation  to  the  Episcopate  of  Turkey 
received  at  the  hands  of  Bishop  Onderdonk.  So  also  it  may  be  said  that 
the  high-toned  satisfaction  of  Bishop  Chase,  in  receiving  and  attempting 
to  lay  before  the  House  of  Bishops,  in  1844,  a  paper  which  he  said  related 
to  the  character  and  conduct  of  Bishop  Onderdonk,  is  explained  by  the 
fact,  that,  whilst  Bishop  Ilobart  was  in  England,  exposing  the  scheme  of 
Bishop  Chase  to  raise  funds  for  the  establishment  of  a  seminary  in  Ohio, 
as  a  rival  institution  to  the  General  Theological  Seminary,  Bishop  Onder- 
donk took  part  in  the  discussion  by  the  publication  of  an  able  pamphlet, 
sustaining  Bishop  Hobart.  The  other  member  of  the  group,  the  Right 
Rev.  C.  P.  Mcllvaine,  first  finds  his  way  before  the  Church  as  the  accuser 
of  Bishop  Onderdonk,  in  the  form  of  a  letter,  dated  March  6, 1841,  which 
appeared  in  the  Episcopal  Recorder,  addressed  to  the  Rev.  Dr.  Seabury, 
then  editor  of  The  Churchman,  from  which  we  make  the  following  extracts. 
This  attack  of  Bishop  Mcllvaine  may  be  regarded  as  the  manifesto  of  the 
war  then  beginning  to  be  waged.  We  make  the  quotations  merely  to  show 
the  animus  of  the  letter  in. its  bearing  upon  the  Bishop  of  New-York, 
without  any  reference  whatever  to  the  merits  of  the  controversy. 

BISHOP     MoILVAINE;S     LETTER. 

Were  it  not  for  other  matters  in  your  remarks,  I  should  not  have  taken 
the  trouble  to  notice  the  above  specimens  of  what  is  going  on  in  the  Church 


46  TRIBUTES   OF    RESPECT. 


A  fadeless  crown  of  amaranthine  bloom, 
A  heavenly  recompense  awaits  thee  now  ; 

Thy  rest  is  gained,  thy  Saviour's  loving  hand, 
His  own  right  hand,  shall  place  it  on  thy  brow. 

Warm  friends  and  true  are  gathered  round  thy  bier, 
And  eyes  are  wet,  and  anguished  bosoms  swell ; 

O  many  a  heart  will  hold  thy  memory  dear  ; 
My  Father,  friend  and  Bishop,  fare  thee  well ! 

May  5th,  1861. 


E.    W. 


Cjje  €xmi\k  against  tlje  ^isjjdp  of  ftefo-f  orfe. 


EARLY  MANIFESTATIONS  OF  HOSTILITY. 

Prominent  in  the  early  history  of  the  causes  which  led  to  the  present 
ment  and  trial  of  Bishop  Onderdonk,  stand  the  names  of  the  Right  Rev. 
Philander  Chase,  late  Presiding  Bishop,  the  Right  Rev.  C.  P.  Mcllvaine, 
and  the  Rev.  James  C.  Richmond. 

The  notorious  instrumentality  of  the  latter,  as  a  minister  of  vengeance 
in  preparing  evidence  for  the  trial,  may  be  accounted  for  by  the  salutary 
check  which  his  self-proposed  elevation  to  the  Episcopate  of  Turkey 
received  at  the  hands  of  Bishop  Onderdonk.  So  also  it  may  be  said  that 
the  high-toned  satisfaction  of  Bishop  Chase,  in  receiving  and  attempting 
to  lay  before  the  House  of  Bishops,  in  1844,  a  paper  which  he  said  related 
to  the  character  and  conduct  of  Bishop  Onderdonk,  is  explained  by  the 
fact,  that,  whilst  Bishop  Ilobart  was  in  England,  exposing  the  scheme  of 
Bishop  Chase  to  raise  funds  for  the  establishment  of  a  seminary  in  Ohio, 
as  a  rival  institution  to  the  General  Theological  Seminary,  Bishop  Onder- 
donk took  part  in  the  discussion  by  the  publication  of  an  able  pamphlet, 
sustaining  Bishop  Hobart.  The  other  member  of  the  group,  the  Right 
Rev.  C.  P.  Mcllvaine,  first  finds  his  way  before  the  Church  as  the  accuser 
of  Bishop  Onderdonk,  in  the  form  of  a  letter,  dated  March  6, 1841,  which 
appeared  in  the  Episcopal  Recorder,  addressed  to  the  Rev.  Dr.  Seabury, 
then  editor  of  The  Churchman,  from  which  we  make  the  following  extracts. 
This  attack  of  Bishop  Mcllvaine  may  be  regarded  as  the  manifesto  of  the 
war  then  beginning  to  be  waged.  We  make  the  quotations  merely  to  show 
the  animus  of  the  letter  in. its  bearing  upon  the  Bishop  of  New-York, 
without  any  reference  whatever  to  the  merits  of  the  controversy. 

BISHOP     McILVAINE's     LETTER. 

Were  it  not  for  other  matters  in  your  remarks,  I  should  not  have  taken, 
the  trouble  to  notice  the  above  specimens  of  what  is  going  on  in  the  Church 


48  NARRATIVE   OF   EVENTS. 

under  an  editor,  whose  paper  is  formally  announced  as  "  the  official  organ 
of  the  Bishop  of  the  Diocese  of  New-York,"  and  as  being  "  under  his 
general  direction  and  supervision."  But  as  it  is.  I  will  say  something  as 
to  your  expressions  of  contempt  and  ridicule,  and  your  charge  of"  almost 
heresy."  Such  language,  I  confess,  pains  and  mortifies  me  exceedingly — 
and  so  does  it  many  others,  who  are  net  likely  to  bear  the  pain  very  pa- 
tiently. But,  why  does  it  thus  affect  me — hecause  it  injures  me  ?  My 
dear  sir,  you  may  write  thus  all  your  life,  if  you  choose,  so  far  as  I  care 
on  my  own  account.  Your  ridicule  or  contempt  is  very  harmless.  Very 
likely  it  will  have  the  eifect  of  setting  many  to  reading  both  the  book  and 
the  Charge,  who  otherwise  would  not  have  done  so.  I  ask  no  other  an- 
swer to  your  charge  of  "  almost  heresy,"  than  that  those  who  read  what 
you  have  written,  will  also  read  what  I  have  written.  But  why,  then,  am 
I  so  pained  and  mortified  ?  Is  it  hecause  such  treatment  and  such  opposi- 
tion from  you  were  unexpected  ?  Alas,  Dr.  Seabury,  I  have  known  you 
too  long  and  too  well,  not  to  know  just  how  such  truth,  eve.1,  what,  in  my 
view,  is  no  other  than  "the  glorious  Gospel  of  the  blessed  God,"  would  be 
relished  by  you.  I  know  you  would  utterly  despise,  detest,  and  ridicule 
it,  just  as  you  have  clone.  And  I  have  no  idea  that  you  have  expressed 
all  you  feel  with  regard  to  it.  Your  hatred  of  such  truth  is,  I  have  no 
doubt,  even  much  greater  than  you  have  expressed.  I  say  it  feelingly  and 
solemnly,  for  I  know  the  awfulness  of  such  a  state  of  mind.  And  if  I  sup- 
posed you  would  deny  it,  were  it  not  that  I  suppose  you  wish  to  be  con- 
sidered as  in  that  state  of  mind,  I  would  not  thus  lay  it  to  your  charge. 
But  as  long  as  I  thus  understand  the  views  and  tastes  which  you  avow, 
let  me  tell  you  seriously,not  in  the  spirit  of  severity,  that  until  there  shall 
be  reason  to  suppose  that  God  has  wrought  a  great,  and  what  I  should 
call  a  very  blessed  change,  in  your  views  and  tastes  and  sympathies — when 
I  shall  publish  any  thing  distinctive  concerning  the  great  matters  of  the 
Gospel,  especially  as  to  what  a  poor  sinner  must  do  to  be  saved — I  shall 
feel  much  more  confident  that  I  speak  ■'  the  truth  as  it  is  in  Jesus}-  if  I 
find  you  loathing  it,  as  you  do  my  Charge,  than  if  I  shall  find  you  prais- 
ing i't. 

You  recently  published  in  your  paper  of  November  7th,  a  most  abusive 
and  abominable  attack  upon  me,  headed  "Oxford  Tracts — Charity  Ex- 
emplified.' You  charged  me  with  having  refused  to  receive  a  person  as  a 
candidate  for  Orders,  "  because  he  had  declined  joining  a  teetotal  society, 
and  attending  Services  where  the  Liturgy  was  dishonored." 
#  ********  # 

But  let  us  ask  again,  why  does  your  treatment  so  pain  and  mortify  me  ? 
I  answer,  because  of  the  painful  consideration  that  The  Churchman  is  so 
widely  regarded  as  representing  the  clergy  of  the  Diocese  of  New-York, 
and  especially  because  it  is  "  the  official  organ  of  the  Bishop  of  New- 
York,"  and  is  under  his  avowed  "  general  direction  and  supervision,"  and 
therefore  when  it  calls  my  Charge  "  almost  heretical,"  it  is  the  Bishop 
of  New- York  whom  the  Bishop  of  Ohio  must  consider  as  thus  speak- 
ing; and  when  it  ridicules  the  writing  of  the  Bishop  of  Ohio  as  ".mere  ro- 
mance," "  not  even  founded  on  fact,"  and  as  the  work  of  a  writer  "incom- 
petent.''' and  as  containing  "  a  perversion  of  historical  truth,"  it  is  not  merely 
Dr.  Seabury  who  is  responsible,  but  it  is  his  endorser  and  patron  and  di- 
rector and  supervisor,  his  protector  in  these  things  :  it  is  the  Bishop  of  New- 
York,  who  is  just  so  much  the  more  responsible  for  these  expressions  and 
charges,  as  his  influence  in  giving  them  weight  is  greater  ;  and  so  will  he 
be  held  by  the  Church  as  well  as  by  myself.     You  may  form  some   idea 


NARRATIVE   OF   EVENTS.  .  49 

how  this  matter  appears  to  others  by  the  following  letter  of  a  presbyter 
of  a  large  Diocese  not  in  the  West.  The  Letter  came  with  your  article, 
and  referstoit.     "Wherever,"  says  the  writer,"  the  responsibility  may  lie, 

I  am  greatly  mistaken  if there  be  not  a  very  large  Dumber  who  will  not 
be  satisfied  until  it  is  distinctly  understood  where  the  responsibility  docs 
lie.  If  there  be  no  power  in  the  Chunk  by  which  such  an  <  vil  may  be 
reached,  at  least  by  official  censure,  our  discipline  must  be  defective.  <  'an  it 
be  that  both  the  spirit  and  the  principles  and  the  doctrines  held  are  not  a 
"subject  of  grief  and  shame  to  a  large  portion  of  our  Church  ?  If  it  he  not 
so,  even  in  the  Diocese  of  New-York,  it  opens  our  minds  to  a  melancholy 
state  of  things  indeed." 
*********  * 

But  here  I  must  say  that  I  would  not  have  spoken  in  this  letter  touch- 
ing the  responsibility  under  which  I  hold  the  Bishop  of  New-York  for  the 
conduct  of  The  Churchman  towards  me,  were  it  not  that  I  have  faithfully 
and  respectfully  and  kindly  tried  in  vain  by  a  private  correspondence  to 
obtain  from  that  Bishop  some  satisfaction,  at  least  some  expression  of  re- 
gret for  the  abominable  attack  upon  my  official  proceedings,  in  the  case  of 
the  candidate  above  referred  to.  My  first  letter  he  answered,  by  declining 
to  be  considered  as  responsible,  in  the  way*  I  held  him  to  be,  for  such 
things  in  The  Churchman  ;  while  not  a  word  has  he  said,  to  indicate  that, 
in  the  article  complained  of,  ho  does  not  entirely  concur.  My  second  let- 
ter is,  to  this  day,  unanswered,  though  it  was  written  nearly  two  months 
ago. 

BISHOP      ONDERDONK's      REPLY. 

To  the  Editors  of  the  li  Episcopal  Recorder.  : " 

Gentlemen — My  Right  Reverend  brother,  the  Bishop  of  Ohio,  having 
thought  proper  to  arraign  me  before  the  public  through  your  columns,  I 
respectfully  request  permission  to  make,  through  the  same  medium,  a  brief 
reply.  It  will  be  brief,  because  of  my  fixed  determination,  for  reasons 
which  will  he  appreciated  by  all  who  rightly  feel  for  the  honor  of  the 
Church,  not  to  yield  to  the  occasion  thus  sought  for  a  newspaper  contro- 
versy with  a  brother  Bishop. 

It  is  proper  for  me  to  state,  that  Bishop  Mclfvaine's  second  letter  to  me 
was  a  reiteration  of  the  demand  made  upon  me  by  the  first,  as  holding  a 
position  which,  in  my  reply  to  it,  I  totally  disavowed,  and  the  responsibili- 
ties of  which  1  entirely  disclaimed.  There  Avas,  therefore,  the  same  diffi- 
culty in  the  way  of  the  reply  which  he  desired  that  there  was  in  the  case  of 
the  first  letter.  It  would  have  involved  an  admission  which  I  could  not 
conscientiously  make.  There  were  other  obvious  modes  of  eliciting  my 
views  and  opinions  in  the  case,  without  compromise  of  principle  on  my 
part,  to  which  the  Bishop  could  have  easily  had  recourse,  but  which  he 
did  not  sec  fit  to  adopt. 

It  ought  to  ho  distinctly  understood,  that  in  my  reply  to  the  Bishop  I 
gave  prominence  to  Dr.  Seabury's  "  Christian  and  honorable  readiness,  at 
all  times,  to  admit  into  his  paper  all  properly  written  vindications  from  in- 
justice supposed  to  have  been  done  by  it,  and  appeals  from  what  may  have 
been  painful  to  the  feelings  of  others,  or  be  deemed  an  improper  editorial 
interference,"  and  stated  that  "  if  an  editor  of  The  Churchman  should  fail 
in  these  respects,  I  should  deem  it  a  serious  discpialifieation  for  bis  office, 
and  feci  compelled  to  notice  it  as  such."; 

In  the  Bishop's  second  letter  to  me,  and  in  bis  communication  to  your 
paper,  stress  is  laid  on   The  Churchman's  being  announced  as  my  official 

4 


50  NARRATIVE   OF   EVENTS. 

organ  of  communication  with  my  Diocese.  For  what  reason,  I  -was  for  a 
long  time  at  a  loss  to  imagine.  It  appeared  to  me  that  this  had  no  con- 
nection whatever  ^ith  the  matters  in  which  that  paper  was  deemed  so 
offensive.  At  length,  however,  it  occurred  to  me,  as  barely  possible,  that 
the  obvious  meaning  of  the  terms  might  be  misunderstood.  This  possi- 
bility must  be  my  apology  to  your  intelligent  readers,  for  saying  that  noth- 
ing more  is  herein  meant  than  that  The  Churchman  is  the  medium  through 
which  appointments  and  other  official  matters,  are  announced  to  my  Dio- 
cese. 

It  is  very  obvious,  from  the  pains  which  the  Bishop  takes  to  make  it 
appear  that  I  am  even  more  responsible  for  the  faults,  rather,  in  his  repre- 
sentation, the  grievous  criminality,  of  the  editor  of  The  Churchman,  than 
that  editor  himself,  that  he  has*  me  in  his  eye,  in  his  solemn  charges  of 
enmity  to  God's  truth,  and  departure  from  His  Gospel.  I  acknowledge  not 
the  authority  of  the  Bishop  of  Ohio  thus  publicly  to  reprove  and  rebuke 
a  brother  Bishop  ;  but  pray  that  I  may  have  grace  rather  to  receive  his 
judgment  in  the  spirit  of  meekness,  than  to  let  it  be  the  cause  of  any  un- 
kind or  unchristian  feelings  towards  him. 

I  will  not  pretend  to  vindicate  myself  against  the  awful  charges  which 
a  brother  Bishop  has  brought^against  me.  I  have  ever  had  an  unconquera- 
ble aversion  to  obtruding  my  personal  concerns  upon  the  public.  If  I 
deserve  public  censure  and  reprobation,  all  attempts  to  repel  them  must 
ultimately  fail.  If  I  do  not,  I  had  rather,  much  rather,  let  it  appear  in 
what  the  grace  of  God  may  allow  me  of  Christian  character  and  deport- 
ment— of  the  living  manifestation  of  the  true  faith  and  sound  principles 
of  the  Gospel,  than  in  any  set  defence.  I  am  before  my  Diocese  and  the 
Church  under  the  awful  responsibilities  of  the  Apostolic  Office.  A  news- 
paper vindication  of  my  character,  principles,  and  official  acts,  can  be  of 
little  importance,  if  my  daily  walk,  duties,  and  ministrations,  are  not  suffi- 
cient ;  and  a  newspaper  attack  upon  either  is  little  to  be  regarded,  if  that 
walk,  and  those  duties  and  ministrations,  are  what  they  should  be. 

Therefore,  Messrs.  Editors,  I  have  done,  I  trust,  forever,  with  any  pub- 
lic connection  with  the  matter  which  has  called  forth  this  communica- 
tion. "Whatever  merit,  or  the  reverse,  may  be  attached  to  drawing  public 
attention  to  the  faults  of  a  brother  Bishop,  is  left,  unshared  by  me,  to  my 
brother  of  Ohio.  • 

Particularly  requesting  the  favor  of  the  insertion  of  this,  in  your  paper 
of  nest  Saturday, 

I  am,  gentlemen,  yours  very  truly, 

New-York,  April  3,  1841.  Benj.  T.    Onderdonk. 

The  spirit  of  the  extracts  which  elicited  this  reply  was  followed  up  in 
the  General  Convention  of  1841,  by  the  House  of  Bishops,  who  then  passed 
the  first  Canon  for  the  trial  of  a  Bishop,  the  Right  Rev.  C.  P.  Mcllvaine 
being  on  the  Committee  who  reported  it.  From  this  time  the  crusade 
against  Bishop  Onderdonk  became  more  vigorous,  and  at  the  next 
meeting  of  the  General  Convention,  in  1844,  the  Rev.  Dr.  Hawks  presented 
another  Canon  for  the  trial  of  a  Bishop,  which  was  adopted  as  a  substi- 
tute for  the  one  passed  in  1841,  the  sequel  showing  that  the  more  com- 
plete instrument  was  specially  intended  to  meet  the  peculiar  proceedings 
about  to  be  required  in  the  case  of  Bishop  Onderdonk,  whose  guileless 
nature  led  him  to  favor  its  adoption,  without  even  a  suspicion  that  ho  was 


NARRATIVE   OF    EVENTS.  51 

the  secret  subjoct  of  all  the  specious  legislation  then  and  thus  carried  on, 
for  the  avowed  object  of  benefiting  the-  Church ! 


THE  DIOCESAN  CONVENTION  OF  184& 

V 

The  most  noticeable  event  of  this  Convention  was  tbe  business  relating 
to  the  Ordination  of  tbe  Rev.  Arthur  Carey,  respecting  which  Bishop 
Onderdonk  spoke  as  follows,   in  his  address  to  the  Convention  : 

"It  is  well  known  to  you,  my  brethren,  that  the  Ordination  just  men- 
tioned has  been  made  matter  of  very  extraordinary  publicity.  The  course 
which  this  has  taken  has  bad  connections  and  bearings  which  have  brought 
to  view  important  principles  whereon  I  deem  it  a  duty  to  express  to  you, 
and  place  on  record,  deliberately-formed  and  conscientious  views  and 
convictions. 

"At  the  foundation  of  the  whole  lies  the  fact,  that  when,  in  this  Ordina- 
tion, the  prescribed  call  was  made  on  the  people  for  the  showing  of  any 
impediment  or  notable  crime,  on  account  of  which  cither  of  the  persons 
presented  should  not  be  ordained,  two  presbyters  of  the  Diocese,  avowedly 
acting  in  their  capacity  as  such,  read  each  a  written  form  of  objection 
and  protest,  charging  one  of  the  candidates  with  unsoundness  in  the  faith. 
The  charge  thus  preferred  had  been  previously  laid  before  me,  fully 
investigated,  and  found  not  to  be  sustained.  This  was  stated  by  me  to 
the  congregation  as  the  reason  why  there  was  no  just  cause  for  the  delay  in 
ordaining  an  accused  person,  provided  for  in  the  Rubric.  The  solemn  Ser- 
vice proceeded  accordingly,  and  all  the  persons  presented  were  ordained. 
With  a  strengthened  conviction  of  having  acted  justly  and  righteously  in 
this  matter,  I  deem  it  to  bo  highly  proper  in  itself,  and  peculiarly  de- 
manded by  the  trying  circumstances  in  which  the  young  brother  con- 
cerned has  been  thrown,  thus  publicly  to  express  unshaken  confidence  in 
him,  and  to  commend  him  to  the  confidence  and  affection  of  the  Church.'' 

Certain  resolutions  were  introduced  by  Judge  Oakley,  relating  to  the 
above  Ordination,  and  containing  an  "  official  attack "  upon  the  Bishop. 
Before  the  consideration  of  these  resolutions,  Bishop  Onderdonk  delivered 
the  following  address : 

Brethren — I  cannot  resist  the  solemn  impulse  of  duty  to  address  you, 
before  entering  on  the  special  business  of  the  morning,  a  few  words  of 
affectionate  counsel. 

The  eyes  of  the  world  are  upon  us.  The  eye  of  God  is  upon  us. 
Wicked  attempts  are  making  without  to  rend  us  asunder  by  jealousies, 
and  provoke  dissension  in  our  happy  communion.  To  meet  these,  he  we 
all  as  one  man.  Clinging  to  Christ,  His  Cross,  and  His  Church,  let  us 
resolve  that  we  will  be  one,  in  order,  in  affection,  and  in  all  other  particu- 
lars of  that  Spirit  of  Christ  which  should  be  in  all  His  members. 

Happily  the  shape  given  to  the  resolutions  now  before  us,  and  the  prin- 
ciples, feelings,  and  intentions,  avowed  by  the  respected  member  who 
introduced  them,  give  us  no  just  reason  to  fear  the  introduction  of  doctrinal 
points,  which  cannot  be  hero  settled,  and  the  discussion  of  which  can  do 
nothing  but  harm;  or  of  those  having  personal  bearings,  the  extent  of 
whose  malign  influences  can  hardly  be  conceived. 

In  the  fear  of  God,  the  love  of  Christ,  and  pure  and  holy  devotion  to 


52  NARRATIVE    OF    EVENTS. 

His  Church,  go  on.  And  let  me  affectionately  commend  to  you  the  blessed 
spirit  manifested  in  the  great  and  judicious  Hooker,  when  the  end  of  his 
holy  life  was  approaching — (which  of  us  knows  how  near  the  end  of  his  life 
he  may  be  ?) — and  of  which  this  sacred  festival*  has  reminded  me.  Speak- 
ing of  the  solemn  period  just  after  that  saint  had  received  the  Holy  Com- 
munion—  which  I  would  to  God  Jill  of  you  had  done  this  day  —  his 
biographer  observes:  "which" — the  administration  of  the  Communion — 
"  being  performed,  the  doctor  thought  he  saw  a  reverend  gaycty  and  joy 
in  his  face;  but  it  lasted  not  long;  for  his  bodily  infirmities  did  return 
suddenly,  and  became  more  visible;  insomuch  that  the  doctor  apprehended 
death  ready  to  seize  him :  yet,  after  some  amendment,  left  him  at  night 
with  a  promise  to  return  early  the  day  following :  which  he  did,  and  then 
found  him  better  in  appearance,  deep  in  contemplation,  and  not  inclinable 
to  discourse;  which  gave  the  doctor  occasion  to  inquire  his  present 
thoughts.     To  which  he  replied,  that  he  was  meditating  the  number 

AND  NATURE  OF  ANGELS  AND  THEIR  BLESSED  OBEDIENCE  AND  ORDER,  WITH- 
OUT WHICH  PEACE  COULD  NOT  BE  IN  HEAVEN;  AND  OH  THAT  IT  MIGHT  BE 
SO  ON  EARTH  !'"' 

The  debate,  in  which  Messrs.  Duer  and  John  Anthon  were  the  chief 
speakers,  began  about  12^  o'clock  on  Friday,  September  29,  and  by  4  o'clock 
a  vote  taken  on  the  "  resolutions  as  amended."  and  next  on  the  resolutions, 
proved  them  to  be  negatived  by  a  majority  of  the  laity,  and  an  over- 
whelming majority  of  the  clergy.  On  the  resolutions  as  amended,  the 
clerical  votes  stood,  ayes  18,  noes  101 ;  and  the  lay  votes,  ayes  35,  noes 
53;  and  on  the  ''resolutions"  the  clerical  votes  were,  ayes  18,  noes  97; 
and  the  lay  votes,  ayes  37,  noes  47  :  the  discrepancy  being  attributable,  as 
we  believe,  to  the  circumstance,  that  after  the  former  vote  had  been  taken, 
several  left  the  House,  under  the  impression  that  the  business  was  finished. 

Towards  the  close  of  the  meeting  of  the  Convention,  Mr.  Duer  read  a 
.  document  expressive  of  dissent  from  a  part  of  the  Bishop's  Address 
recommending  the  Catholic  principles  advocated  in  The  Churchman,  and 
other  periodicals,  and  requested  that,  after  the  signatures  to  it  were  com- 
pleted, it  might  be  entered  on  the  Minutes.  The  Bishop  peremptorily 
refused  this,  on  the  ground  that  it  was  neither  the  place  nor  the  time  to 
censure  his  official  communications  to  the  clergy  and  laity  of  his  Diocese. 

Before  the  Convention  separated,  the  Bishop  delivered  the  following 
address : 

Brethren— It  is  a  blessed  fact,  interwoven  with  the  whole  history  of  our 
Church,  delightfully  indicative  of  its  conservative  character,  and  which 
ought  to  command  our  devout  gratitude  for  the  overruling  grace  of  God, 
that  differences  among  us  never  make  any  serious  inroads  on  our  unity  and 
harmony.  Over  and  over  again  have  the  enemies  of  Christ  and  His  cause 
predicted  the  reverse,  and  as  often  have  their  predictions — and  what,  from 
the  obvious  spirit  in  which  these  were  obtruded,  it  hardly  is  a  breach  of 
charity  to  call  their  hopes — been  frustrated.  Events  have  occurred,  on 
which  serioua  differences  of  opinion  have  been  conscientiously  maintained. 
Discussions  have  arisen  in  which  honest  warmth  has  existed.     Sometimes 


*  Festival  of  S.  Michael  and  All  Angels. 


NARRATIVE    OF    EVENTS.  53 

• 

good  men  have  been  taken  off  then*  guard,  and  yielding  too  much  to  natu- 
ral impulse  in  their  feelings  and  Bonsibilities,  have  Bpoken  unadvisedly 
with  their  lips,  and  thus  provoked  danger  of  undue-  passion  and  excite- 
ment. The  decision  once  made,  however,  all  has  keen  quieted.  The 
enemy  has  keen  ashamed,  being  deprived  of  the  power  of  saving  what  be 
gladly  would  have  said  against  us.  that  we  too  have  been  rent  by  dissen- 
sion and  schism.  Our  union  has  keen  strengthened,  and  our  mutual  affec- 
tion unimpaired.  Under  God,  this  kas  been  largely  occasioned  ky  the 
happy  polity  which  gives  to  all  orders  of  men  among  us — Bishops,  clergy, 
and  laity — their  respective  opportunities  of  full  influence  in  our  concent. 

Our  present  position  has  prompted  these  remarks. 

This  Convention  has  keen  one  of  no  common  interest.  It  is  unusually 
large.  It  came  together  under  the  expectation  ky  all,  that  questions  of 
an  unprecedented  character  might  he  brought  before  it,  and  that  causes  of 
much  excitement  might  grow  up  in  it.  The  Church  throughout  our  land 
has  looked  to  it  as  one  of  very  special  importance.  Opponents  and  ene- 
mies of  tho  Church,  whether  under  the  Christian  name,  or  of  ranks  hostile 
to  it,  anticipated  confusion  and  schism  as  the  result;  and  friends  there 
were  who  could  not  dismiss  fears  of  danger  of  that  result.  Serious  ques- 
tions have  arisen.  Earnest  debate  has  ensued.  Every  one  has  had  a  fair 
opportunity  to  he  heard.  Tho  decision  has  keen  duly  and  orderly  made. 
Surely  I  am  not  wrong  in  anticipating,  that  wdiat  has  keen  will  ke.  Chris- 
tian submission  and  contentment  will  characterize  us  all.  Discord  will 
cease.  Union  and  harmony  will  he  restored;  and  all  will  go  to  their 
respective  homes  with  renewed  resolutions  to  devote  themselves  to  the 
service  of  Christ  and  His  Church.  May  it  ke  so !  I  ask,  dear  brethren, 
the  union  of  your  prayers  with  mine,  that  God,  of  his  infinite  mercy,  will 
grant  that  it  may  be  so. 


PASTORAL  LETTER  IN  RELATION  TO  THE  ORDINATION  OF  THE  REV. 
ARTHUR  CAREY. 

To  the  Clergy  and  People  of  My  Spiritual  Charge: 

Brethren,  beloved  in  the  Lord — It  is  due  to  the  sacred  relation  which  I 
bear  to  you  that  I  apprise  you  of  my  having  communicated  to  my 
brethren,  the  Bishops  of  the  Church  in  these  United  States,  a  solemn 
remonstrance,  protest,  and  demand,  growing  out  of  the  manner  in  which  I 
have  been  treated  ky  three  of  them  in  reference  to  the  discharge  of  my 
Episcopal  functions. 

This  remonstrance,  protest,  and  demand,  are  contained  in  the  following 
document,  which  I  have  addressed  to  the  said  Right  Reverend  brethren : 

"To  the  Right  Reverend  the  Bishops  of  the  Protestant  Episcopal  Church  in  the 
United  States  of  America,  their  brother  the  undersigned,  the  Bishop  of  New  York,  feels 
himself  compelled  by  a  sacred  and  imperious  sense  of  duty  to  his  Office  and  his  Diocese, 
and  to  the  Church  and  its  Divine  Head,  to  communicate  this  his  solemn  remonstrance, 
protest,  and  demand.  Three  of  our  number,  to  wit,  the  Bishops  of  Illinois,  Vermont, 
and  Ohio,  have  thought  proper  publicly  to  make  insinuations  and  lay  charges  against 
the  undersigned,  in  matters  connected  with  an  Ordination  held  by  him  in  the  month  of 
July  last ;  which  charges  and  insinuations  involve  tho  accusation  of  the  undersigned  on 
points  deeply  affecting  the  Scriptural  integrity  and  soundness  of  his  d  itftrines,  his 
devotion  to  the  true  interests  and  welfare  of  the  portion  of  Christ's  Church  of  which  he 
is  one  of  the  chief  pastors,  his  faithfulness  to  his  own  Diocese,  and  consequently  his 
titness  for  the  high  and  sacred  Office  with  which,  in  the  course  of  God's  providence,  and 
by  the  appointment  of  His  Holy  Spirit,  he  has  been  invested. 

''The  Bishop  of  Illinois  has  referred  in  a  published  pamphlet  to  the  aforesaid  Ordina- 
tion as  a  step  towards  bringing  the  most  serious  evils  upon  the  Church,  soiling  her  doc- 


54  NARRATIVE    OF    EVENTS. 

trinal  purity,  changing  essentially  her  character,  blasting  her  prosperity,  and  ruining 
her  institutions.  The  Bishop  of  Ohio  has  denounced  it  to  his  Convention  and  to  the 
world  as  deserving  the  highest  censure,  and  fraught  with  danger  to  the  Church,  and 
grounds  upon  it  a  Virtual  threat  not  to  receive  clergymen  into  his  Diocese  on  letters  of 
dismission  from  the  undersigned,  because  of  their  being  no  security  for  the  doctrinal 
soundness  of  the  partv  dismissed.  The  Bishop  of  Vermont,  besides  himself  censuring  it 
at  large,  justifies  the  aforesaid  acts  of  his  brethren  of  Illinois  and  Ohio,  on  the  ground 
of  ancient  allowance  h»the  Catholic  Church  of  one  Bishop's  interfering  in  the  Diocese 
of  anol  her,  when  the  latter  was  in  heresy,  or  otherwise  bringing  alarming  evils  upon  the 
Church.     This,  therefore,  is  the  character  attributed  by  him  to  the  undersigned.  _ 

"Our  religion  teaches  us  how  Christian  brethren,  in  the  privacy  of  confidential  inter- 
course, should  kindly  rebuke  each  other  for  their  faults.  The  Church,  in  her  wise 
Canonical  provisions,  points  out  the  way  in  which,  in  due  and  orderly  manner,  her 
Bishops  are  amenable  to  her  laws,  are  accountable  for  their  offences,  and  are  allowed  a 
fair  hearing  in  vindication  from  charges  which  may  be  brought  against  them.  Neither 
of  these  Christian  and  just  courses  has,  however,  iii  the  present  instance,  been  pursued. 
The  undersigned  has  been  branded  by  brother  Bishops  before  the  Church  and  the  world, 
without  notice,  and  in  avoidance,  by  his  accusers,  of  the  mode  canonically  prescribed 
for  bringing  charges  against  a  brother,  and  allowing  him  the  common  justice  of  being 
put,  in  due  and  orderly  manner,  on  his  defence.  They  have  proclaimed  his  alleged 
unfaithfulness  to  the  world,  instead  of  telling  it,  for  her  just  decision  thereon,  to  the 
Church. 

"Now  therefore,  the  undersigned  hereby  solemnly  remonstrates  and  protests  to  his 
brethren  the  Bishops  of  the  American  Church,  and  through  them  to  that  Church, 
against  this  procedure  of  his  aforesaid  brethren,  the- Bishops  of  Illinois,  Vermont,  and 
Ohio,  as  unjust,  unchristian,  and  in  opposition  to  the  true  spirit  of  the_  system  of  eccle- 
siastical  law  and  order  to  which  they  have  solemnly  promised  conformity. 

"  And  further  the  undersigned  hereby,  in  the  name  of  God  and  of  his  Holy  Church, 
demands  of  his  said  brethren,  the  Right  Reverend  Philander  Chase,  D.  D.,  Bishop  of 
Illinois,  the  Right  Reverend  John  Henry  Hopkins,  D.  D.,  Bishop  of  Vermont,  and  the 
Right  Reverend  Charles  Petit  Mcllvaine,  D.  D.,  Bishop  of  Ohio,  that  if  they  are  honestly 
persuaded  that  the  undersigned  is  iustly  lial  lo  to  the  charges  which  the}-  have  brought 
or  insinuated  against  him,  they  do  forthwith,  agreeably  to  the  Canon  of  the  General 
Convention  entitled  '  Of  the  Trial  of  Bishop.*,'  present  him  for  trial ;  that  thus  it  may 
be  fairly  and  canonically  tested  whether  he  is  guilty,  or  whether  they  are  mistaken 
accuse. '.  Which,  if  they  shall  neglect  to  do,  the  undersigned  will  feel  himself  fully 
justified  in  regarding  the  accusations  as  withdrawn,  and  demanding  that  they  be  no 
more  repeated. 

"  Should  the  Bishop  of  Illinois  think  that  his  station  as  Senior  or  Presiding  Bishop 
precludes  his  acting  as  a  presenter,  the  undersigned  earnestly  requests  that  any  other 
brother  Bishop,  who  may  coincide  in  opinion  with  those  who  have  publicly  arraigned 
him,  will  unite  in  the  presentment. 

"  On  his  accusing  brethren,  and  such  others  as  agree  with  them  in  sentiment  and 
views  on  this  solemn  and  important  subject,  the  undersigned  urges  the  above-mentioned 
course  of  presentment  as  that  which  only  is  consistent  with  the  responsibilities  and 
obligations  imposed  by  laws  to  which,  in  the  name  of  God,  they  have  solemnly 
promised  obedience. 

"Bf.xj.  T.  Oxderdonk, 

' '  Bishop  of  New-  York. 

"New- York,  January  26,  1844." 

The  necessity  of  such  action  on  my  part,  is,  I  assure  you,  my  dearly 
beloved,  extremely  painful  to  me.  I  was  aware  that  a  conscientious  Bishop 
could  hardly  fulfil  his  official  obligations  and  responsibilities,  in  this  ill- 
judging  and  wicked  world,  without  exciting  opposition.  Nor  ought  I  to 
be  surprised  that  such  opposition  should  often  be  manifested  in  a  temper 
and  mode  especially  natural  to  the  carnal  mind,  and  at  variance  with  the 
spirit  and  affections  of  the  renewed  Christian  heart.  1  was  aware  that  the 
wholesome  laws  of  our  branch  of  the  Catholic  Church  had  rightly  placed 
its  Bishops  under  the  responsibilities  involved  iii  the  power  of  presenting 
them  for  trial  vested  in  their  respective  Conventions,  and  in  any  three  oi 
their  own  order. 

But  I  confess  I  was  not  prepared  for  the  humiliating  sight  of  Bishops, 
passing  by  the  mode  which  the  Church  provides  for  the  regular  impeach- 
ment of  a  brother,  publicly  assailing  him  for  his  solemn  official  acts  through 


NARRATIVE   OF   EVENTS.  55 

the  mediant  of  the  press.  I  -was  not  prepared  to  sec  Right  Reverend 
Fathers  of  the  Church  making  common  cause  with  ordinary  pamphleti 
and  newspaper  writers  of  the  day  by  joining  in  their  attacks  upon  one  of 
their  own  order.  It  is  a  well-known  principle  of  Catholic  law  in  the 
Church  of  Con,  that,  sa.\  e  in  strung  and  decided  cases  of  Episcopal  defec- 
tion and  mal-conduct,  no  Bishop  can  rigidly  interfere  with  the  diocesan 
acts  and  prerogatives  of  another,  or  assume  to  himself  the  privilege  of 
holding  a  brother  directly  or  indirectly  responsible  to  him.  The  violation 
of  this  principle  Avas  the  first  step  towards  papal  assumptions,  whence,  by 
the  natural  results  of  effects  from  causes,  were  ultimately  brought  in  the 
manifold,  grievous,  and  antichristian  evils  with  which  the  Popish  system 
has  cursed  the  Church.  I  was  therefore  not  prepared  for  being  impeached 
by  a  brother  Bishop  before  his  Convention  for  official  acts  in  my  own 
Diocese.  That  brother  knew  full  well  that  impeachment  in  another  quarter, 
were  he  confident  of  right,  was  a  duty  binding  upon  him  by  laws  to  which 
he  had  solemnly  promised  conformity. 

Thus,  however,  brethren,  has  your  Bishop  been  treated.  My  three 
brethren,  the  Bishops  of  Illinois,  Vermont,  and  Ohio,  who  have  pointed  me 
out  to  the  Church  and  the  world  as  sufficiently  faulty  to  require  a  public 
mark  of  their  disapprobation,  I  will  not  so  far  underrate,  touching  their 
intellectual  perception,  and  moral  sense,  as  to  suppose  them  capable  of 
such  treatment  of  a  brother  without  appreciating  its  inseparable  connection 
with  the  idea  of  his  unfitness  for  his  office,  or  at  least  of  such  a  probability 
thereof  as  should  subject  him  to  peculiar  vigilance,  if  not  to  public  suspi- 
cion and  distrust. 

Those  brethren  knew  that  for  testing  the  correctness  of  this  idea  the 
Church  has  provided  a  regular  and  orderly  method.  This  they  have  not 
pursued.  In  the  course  which  they  have  pursued,  your  Bishop,  dear 
brethren,  is  the  last  man  to  be  willing  to  follow  them.  lie  feels  that  he 
cannot  do  this  consistently  with  a  proper  view  of  his  office,  and  of  his 
obligations  to  the  Church.  He  shrinks,  however,  from  no  regular  and 
orderly  inspection  and  trial  of  his  conduct.  This  he  invites  and  demands. 
He  utterly  refuses  to  meet  a  brother  Bishop,  on  questions  of  this  nature,  as 
a  pamphleteer-opponent  in  strife  before  the  world.  The  Church  points 
out  his  lino  of  responsibility  for  his  official  acts,  and  the  mode  in  which  he 
is  to  be  called  to  answer  for  them.  In  these  he  is  willing  to  meet  all 
inquiry,  and  render  all  legal  account.  Others  he  must  be  excused  for 
considering  as  by  no  means  entitled  to  his  respect  or  submission. 

Many  of  you,  my  reverend  brethren,  will  remember  the  sentiment  I 
have  often  expressed  of  the  unworthy  and  unchristian  character  of  a  dis- 
position to  blazon  the  faults  of  a  brother  in  the  Ministry,  connected  with 
unwillingness  and  even  refusal  to  assume  the  responsibility  of  Canonical 
presentment,  and  of  honestly  bearing  testimony  in  due  Canonical  form. 
Private  rebuke  and  reproof  of  an  erring  brother  is  right  and  good,  and 
often  a  bounden  duty.  But  public  reproach,  save  under  the  wholesome 
restraints  and  just  security  of  defence,  provided  by  law,  has  hardly  the 
shadow  of  Christian  allowance  under  which  to  find  refuge. 

The  Apostle  of  the  Gentiles,  in  addressing  his  children  in  the  faith,  when 
open  enemies  and  false  friends  were  endeavoring  to  diminish  or  destroy 
the  influence  which  he  would  exert  over  them  in  the  godly  jealousy  where- 
with he  was  affected  towards  their  spiritual  and  eternal  good,  was  some- 
times moved  by  the  Holy  Ghost  to  lay  before  them  his  claims  to  their 
confidence.  The  multiplied  manifestations  from  all  parts  of  the  Diocese, 
wherewith  I  have  been  cheered,  my  dear  brethren  of  the  clergy  and  laity, 
with  affectionate  assurances  of  your  love  and  confidence  amidst  the  attacks 
and  reproaches  to  which  I  have  been  exposed  from  both  Christians  and 


5G  NAREATIVE   OF   EVENTS. 

the  sons  of  Belial — and  let  me  add,  similar  manifestations  from  all  sections 
of  our  Church,  and  from  Christian  brethren  in  other  and  distant  parts  of 
the  world* — have  been  the  more  welcome  to  my  grateful  heart,  from  the 
hope  that  they  have  not  been  merely  personal,  nor  unconnected  with  an 
appreciation  of  my  ministerial  and  Episcopal  character  founded  on  my 
manner  of  life  since  my  first  entrance  on  the  Diaconato. 

Efforts  have  been  made,  brethren,  to  deprive  mo  of  your  confidence  by 
subjecting  me  to  distrust  on  the  score  of  unsoundness  in  the  faith.  May  I 
be  allowed  to  say  that  if  every  minister  of  Christ  could  make  a  wide  ap- 
peal on  this  subject,  your  Bishop  may  humbly  presume  to  do  so  ? 

Through  the  whole  of  my  ministry,  extending  to  nearly  thirty-two 
years,  I  have  lived  and  labored  in  this  my  native  city.  For  nearly  the 
quarter  of  a  century  I  was  a  constant  preacher  in  a  parish  comprising  three 
of  the  largest  congregations  in  our  country,  and  maintained  among  them  a 
diligent  pastoral  intercourse,  the  opportunities  afforded  by  which  for  ma- 
king fully  known  my  theological  principles  and  views  I  trust  I  never  neg- 
lected ;  and  of  which  my  heart  prompts  me  to  add,  that  there  were  therein 
formed  spiritual  alliances  that  I  humbly  hope  will  not  be  without  their  in- 
fluence on  heavenly  felicity ;  that  the  remembrance  of  it  furnishes  me  with 
some  of  my  happiest  and  sweetest  moments  of  reflection  ;  and  that  its  loss 
is  among  the  largest  and  most  trying  sacrifices  which  I  have  been  called 
to  make  to  the  wider  sphere  and  more  onerous  burden  of  obligation  which 
the  Episcopate  has  laid  upon  me. 

Very  many  of  the  children  in  the  Lord  to  whom  I  have  thus  frankly, 
fully,  and  affectionately  imparted  my  views  of  Christian  doctrine,  have 
emigrated  to  all  parts  of  our  Diocese  and  our  country. 

My  Episcopate  of  more  than  thirteen  years  has  been  spent  in  preaching 
the  word  in  a  Diocese  which  continues  after,  as  it  was  before  another  was 
set  off  from  it,  to  be  by  far  the  largest  in  the  Union ;  and  whence,  every 
3-ear,  Churchmen  have  gone  out  into  all  parts  of  the  land. 

For  about  twenty-five  years  I  have  been  constantly  engaged  in  directing 
the  studies  of  candidates  for  the  Holy  Ministry.  Certainly  not  less  than 
three  hundred  of  our  present  clergy,  including  four  of  my  Right  Beverend 
brethren,  settled  in  all  our  borders,  have  thus  been  mado  Avell  acquainted 
with  my  religious  doctrines  and  views. 

I  confidently  appeal  to  all,  Bishops,  Clergy,  and  Laity,  who  have  thus 
had  ample  opportunity  of  knowing  my  doctrines  and  opinions,  for  the 
frankness  and  fulness  with  which  I  have  ever  expressed  them.  Surely, 
brethren,  in  any  charges  or  insinuations  which  may  be  ventured  against 
me  of  theological  unfaithfulness,  I  may  confidently  make  a  very  large  ap- 
plication of  my  Master's  appeal  in  behalf  of  IBs  integrity,  " Ask  them 
which  heard  me,  ivhat  I  have  said  unto  them.  Behold,  they  know  what  I 
said.v 

It  is  a  comfort  for  me  to  reflect,  my  dear  brethren,  that  such  boasting  is 
hardly  needful  for  you.  Ye  all  know  what  has  been  my  coming  in  and 
going  out  among  you ;  and  most  sensibly  do  I  feel,  and  most  gratefully  do 
I  acknowledge,  the  manifold  evidences  I  am  constantly  receiving  of  your 
unimpaired  confidence  and  affection.  The  best  return  for  this  are  the  af- 
fectionate love  which  I  ever  bear  towards  you,  the  constant  prayers  in 


*  I  trtirt  I  chall  bo  excused  for  selecting,  in  the  confidence  of  its  proving  gratifying  to  you,  the 
following  extract  from  the  letter  of  areverend  brother,  recently  returned  from  on  excursion  to 
the  Mediterranean  In  quest  of  health  :  "The  clergy  of  the  Church  of  England,  whom  I  paw  in 
Asia  Minor  and  elsewhere,  Inquired  for  you  with  much  interest,  and  expressed  no  little  sympathy 

for  you  in  the  trials  to  which  some  of  your  official  duties  have  subjected  you." 


NARRATIVE    OF    EVENTS.  57 

• 

which  I  remember  you  at  the  throne  of  grace,  and  my  heartfelt  devotion 
to  your  spiritual  and  eternal  good  These,  the  Lord  being  my  Helper,  yon 
shall  continue  to  have.  1  must,  sensibly  feel  indeed  that  the  fulfilment  of 
this  sacred,  sincere,  and  honest  promise  will  involve  perpetually  increasing 

anxiety  and  labor.  I  know  that  1  must  more  and  more  withdraw  myself 
from  all  other  than  official  care,  solicitude,  and  occupation.  This,  how- 
ever, I  am  prepared  to  do.  But  I  i'eel  that  I  need  herein  your  faithful 
fervent  prayers  for  the  support,  direction,  aid,  and  blessing  of  the  Holy 
Ghos£.     These,  dear  brethren,  let  me  hav8. 

The  necessity  for  addressing  you  at  this  time  is  connected  with  a  very  pe- 
culiar and  unprecedented  state  of  things  in  our  Church.  Evil  principles 
appear  to  lie  strengthened  in  their  league  against  us.  Infidel,  liercti  jal, 
and  sohismatical  influences  are  powerfully  at  work.  There  is  also  enlist- 
ed in  the  same  ranks  the  interference  of  the  merely  worldly,  careless  to 
what  interests  they  may  lie  joined,  provided  worldly  motives,  principles, 
and  agencies,  may  be  brought  to  bear  upon  its  views  and  designs.  And  in 
unhappy  illustration  of  th»  infection  which  remaineth  even  in  the  regen- 
erate, delusion  hath  so  far  come  over  members  of  the  Church,  that  she 
hath  within  herself  agencies  tending  to  the  same  result,  much  more  worthy 
of  those  that  are  without.  Hence  have  resulted  consequences  truly  painful 
to  the  pious  heart.  Many  of  the  most  sacred  principles  and  requirements 
of  the  Gospel  have  been  subjected  to  profane  if  not  blasphemous  treatment. 
.Subjects  essentially  and  solely  connected  with  the  Church  of  Christ — that 
kingdom  which  is  not  of  this  world — have  been  degraded  into  entire 
subservience  to  secular  principles  and  views.  Unblushing  efforts  have 
been  made  to  array  the  sheep  of  Christ's  flock  against  their  pastors.  The 
more  faithful  these,  and  the  more  influenced  by  holy  independence  of  pop- 
ular errors  and  delusions,  the  more  have  they  been  held  up  to  scorn  and 
ridicule,  the  meanness  of  which  is  lost,  to  the  truly  Christian  mind,  in  its 
painful  sense  of  their  wickedness  and  impiety.  Consequences  most  bale- 
ful to  evangelical  affections  and  morals  have  followed,  the  courtesies  of 
society  been  violated,  Christian  friendships  sacrificed,  fraternal  recognition 
denied,  and  the  proprieties  of  relative  station  sadly  overpassed. 

We  have  too  to  lament,  as  the  result  of  the  unholy  excitement  which  has 
been  stirred  up  among  us,  an  effort  to  weaken  the  hold  and  diminish  the 
influence  of  the  sound  Catholic  and  evangelical  principles,  which,  under 
God,  have  been  so  much  blessed  to  the  prosperity  and  to  the  efficient  ener- 
gies of  our  Church;  an  endeavor  to  cast  suspicion  on  those  whose  holy  and 
enlightened  devotion  to  the  Church  has  been  marked  with  signal  blessing ; 
and  a  withholding  of  aid  from  the  precious  cause  of  the  Gospel  from  tho 
miserable  influence  of  party  jealousy. 

These,  brethren,  are  grievous  evils  for  which  the  disturbers  of  our  peace 
are  responsible.  Let  us  unite  in  humble,  faithful  prayer  that  they  be  not, 
as  thoyjustly  may  be,  visited  with  sore  judgments  on  our  Church.  By  the 
blessing  of  God's  heavenly  grace,  a  remedy  may  be  found  in  an  enlight- 
ened knowledge,  and  a  just  appreciation,  of  the  pure  principles  of  the  Gos- 
pel in  their  essential  connection  with  Christ's  Holy  Catholic  Church. 
These  let  my  reverend  brethren  present  to  their  people  in  their  genuine 
Scriptural  character,  and  urge  with  all  the  heart-stirring  motives 
and  sanctions  which  tho  Gospel  presents. 

That  all  this  can  best  be  done  in  entire  conformity  with  the  doctrines,  dis- 
cipline, and  worship  of  our  branch  of  the  Catholic  Church,  I  fully  and 
unhesitatingly  believe.  To  understand,  appreciate,  recommend,  and  act 
out,  "the  Church  as  it  is,"  is  the  very  best  mode  of  strengthening  and 
advancing  those  Protestant  principles  which  are  opposed  to  Papal  errors, 


58  NARRATIVE   OF   EVENTS. 

• 

and  those  Catholic  principles  which  are  opposed  to  all  errors,  whether 
Papal  or  Protestant,  and  thus  of  promoting  the  true  interests  of  the  hlessed 
Gospel. 

An  important  auxiliary  to  this  end  would  be,  my  reverend  brethren,  a 
prudent  and  judicious  but  firm  and  decided  effort  to  restore  the  practical 
observance  of  the  Church's  holy  provisions  for  Daily  Morning  and  Even- 
ing Prayer,  and  for  hallowing  all  Sundays  and  Holy  Days  with  the  celebra- 
tion of  the  Lord's  Supper.  To  this  end  let  the  clergy  labor;  duly  con- 
sidering,  however,  that  it  must  lie  expected  that  so  great  and  blessed  a 
change  from  the  present  influences  of  the  god  of  this  world,  cannot  be  ex- 
pected to  be  suddenly  wrought,  and  that  long,  earnest,  and  faithful  en- 
deavors to  produce,  by  the  Divine  blessing,  an  acquiescence  in  the  princi- 
ple, and  a  gradual  approximation  to  its  full  development  in  action,  must 
be  expected  first  to  exercise  our  Christian  patience  and  hope. 

And  be  ye  not,  dear  brethren  of  the  laity,  backward  in  encouraging 
your  pastors  in  such  holy  efforts  to  do  full  justice  to  the  pious  provisions, 
appointments,  and  requirements  of  the  Church* 

Our  only  hope,  in  all  times  of  trial  for  the  Church,  is  in  the  Lord  our 
God.  And  surely  we  can  have  no  truer  refuge  to  Him  than  in  that  Church's 
holy  communion  with  Him  in  her  prayers  and  praises,  and  especially  her 
Eucharistic  Commemoration  of  the  Lord's  death,  and  the  means  which  she 
is  therein  commissioned  to  administer  of  the  grace  and  salvation  which 
that  death  procured. 

Let  the  claim,  which  is  so  generally  put  forth  among  us,  to  attachment 
to  "  the  Church  as  it  is,"  be  truly  honest,  and  her  provisions  will  be  gladly 
followed  in  all  efforts  to  restore  the  unity  and  harmony  which  should  sub- 
sist among  the  members  of  the  one  Body  of  Christ. 

And  let  me,  dear  brethren,  clergy  and  laity,  especially  press  upon  you 
the  importance  of  ever  looking  upon  the  Church  in  its  true  and  essential 
spiritual  character.  It  has  to  do  with  spiritual  and  eternal  things.  How- 
ever combined,  in  its  militant  state,  this  its  great  object  may  be  with  cir- 
cumstances and  relations  of  a  secular  character,  these  are  not  of  it.  They 
are  but  appendages  connected  ivith  it.  They  are  valueless  for  its  genuine 
purposes,  if  separated  from  its  spirituality.  They  are  degrading  and  dan- 
gerous to  it,  and  destructive  of  the  Christian  character  and  hopes  of  its 
members,  if  made  paramount  in  their  estimate  and  regard.  Therefore 
do  I  earnestly  and  affectionately  commend  to  your  most  serious  study  and 
consideration  the  true  spiritual  nature,  requirements,  and  objects  of  the 
Church.  Your  thoughts,  cares,  and  labors,  must  be  mainly  given  to  heaven 
and  heavenly  things,  or  you  are  unfit  to  duly  appreciate  the  things  of  the 
Church  of  Christ.  -As  this  is  the  kingdom  of  heaven  in  its  incipiency, 
those  whose  conversation  is  not  in  heaven  can  have  no  just  view  of  what 
rightly  pertains  to  it,  and  may,  by  thoughtless  interference,  and  much 
more  by  deliberately  bad  intent,  in  obtruding  into  its  concerns,  be  guilty 
of  blasphemy  before  God. 

These  things  I  would  impress  upon  the  clergy,  for  their  right  guidance 
in  the  instruction  of  their  people,  and  upon  all  for  their  thorough  and 
practical  adoption. 

Especially,  dear  brethren,  do  I  exhort  you  to  continue  steadfast  and  un- 
moveable  in  the  principles  of  the  blessed  Gospel  of  our  Lord  and  Saviour 
Jesus  Christ.  Be  these  your  guide  in  the  cultivation  of  individual  char- 
acter, in  the  discharge  of  domestic  dutv,  in  the  regulation  of  social  inter- 
course, and  in  all  your  civil  relations  anu  duties.  In  them  all  let  your  light 
shine  before  men  in  the  affections,  virtues,  and  good  works  of  the  Gospel 
— its  purity,  sanctity,  and  heavcnly-mindedness.     In  no  other  way  can  you 


NARRATIVE   OF   EVENTS.  59 

do  justice  to  the  Church  and  promote  the  interests  of  pure  and  undefded 
evangelical  religion.  This,  too,  is  the  armor  wherewith  you  may  he  pre. 
parea  to  meet  every  opposition,  open  or  cloaked,  to  the  true  doctrine  and 
order  of  the  Go8pet  Let  there  then  be  DO  just  imputation  upon  the  clergy 
for  unwillingness  to  preach,  and  none  upon  the  laity  for  unwillingness  to 
receive,  the  pure  and  unadulterated  Gospel. 

.We  have,  brethren,  hot  to  hold  fast  the  profession  to  whioh  -wo  were  de- 
voted in  Baptism,  and  all  issafe.  When  the  world,  the  flesh,  and  the  devil, 
are  truly  renounced  by  Christians,  the  Church  will  ho  secure  ;  her  sacred 
principles  rightly  appreciated ;  her  holy  duties  faithfully  discharged ;  her 
true  spirit  imbibed,  and  she,  at  unity  in  herself,  be  carried  onward  to  the 
triumph  which  her  Lord  has  in  reserve  for  her  here  and  in  heaven. 

To  this  end,  brethren,  l>o  ye  true  to  your  solemn  Christian  league.  Let 
heresy  distract,  schism  deride,  and  worldliness  neutralize,  as  they  will.  Be 
yours  the  steadfast  mind  and  purpose  to  pursue  the  one  straight  path  of 
Catholic  faith,  piety,  and  unity. 

And  that  God's  blessing  may  herein  and  in  all  things  rest  upon  you,  is 
the  sincere  prayer  of 

Your  affectionate  Pastor, 

Benj.  T.  Onderdonk, 

Bishop  of  New-York. 

New-York,  January  27,  1844. 


PASTORAL  LETTER  TO  THE  LAITY;  OCCASIONED  BY  A  RECENT  APPEAL 
TO  THEM  BY  SOME  OF  THEIR  NUMBER. 

To  the  Laity  of  My  Pastoral  Charge: 

Brethren,  beloved  in  the  Lord — Certain  of  your  body  have  published  and 
disseminated  a  document  bearing  their  names,  designed  to  place  me  before 
you  as  an  arrogant  assumer  of  prerogative  beyond  the  just  claims  of  my 
office,  and  therefore  as  one  unworthy  of  your  confidence,  and  obnoxious  to 
the  disrespect  nnd  suspicion  of  the  community.  I  have  no  regret,  on  my 
own  account,  that  they  have  thus  frankly  expressed  themselves  in  their 
own  names.  My  firm  and  fearless  adoption  and  vindication  of  measures 
conscientiously  deemed  by  me  to  be  inseparable  from  the  faithful  discharge 
of  my  official  obligations  and  responsibilities,  have  called  forth  manifesta- 
tions of  ill-will  and  hostility,  both  privately  and  publicly  expressed,  to 
which,  from  their  anonymous  and  irresponsible  character,  or  from  other 
sufficient  causes,  I  deemed  it  neither  a  demand  of  duty,  nor  a  dictate  of 
propriety,  to  make  arty  answer.  Now,  however,  I  am  accused  before  the 
Church  and  the  world  under  names  deserving  respectful  consideration  ; 
names  too  which  give  painful  evidence  that  there  has  been  a  subjection  of 
understanding  to  feeling,  and  of  principle  to  passion,  in  quarters  where  I 
Would  have  little  expected  it. 

I  am  accused  of  a  high-handed  measure  of  tyranny,  and  of  an  unprinci- 
pled trampling  on  the  rights  of  the  laity,  in  the  manner  in  which  I  treated 
the  movement  of  the  Hon.  John  Ducr,  at  the  close  of  our  last  Convention. 

That  movement  was  a  censure  upon  my  conduct  in  a  matter  of  pastoral 
counsel  to  the  clergy  and  people  of  my  charge.  The  censure  was  contained 
in  a  document,  signed,  or  to  be  signed,  by  that  gentleman  and  others,  and 
brought  forward  by  him,  without  the  accompaniment  of  any  resolution,  and 
evidently  on  the  presumption  that  he,  and  they,  and  any  others,  had  a  right 
to  spread  upon  the  Minutes  any  document  which  they  might  see  fit  to  pre- 


60  NARRATIVE   OF   EVENTS. 

pare,  even  without  a  resolution  designed  to  test  the  sense  of  the  Conven- 
tion whether  the  liberty  should  be  taken  or  not. 

On  principles  which  will  be  duly  appreciated  by  all  lovers  of  good 
order,  f  was  instantly  convinced  that  duty  to  the  body  over  which  I  pre- 
sided demanded  of  me  to  save  it  at  once  from  such  an  outrage.  I  adopted 
the  course  marked  out  by  duty. 

I  am  blamed,  however,  for  not  having  allowed  an  explanation.  The 
whole  matter  having  been  an  unjustifiable  assumption  of  prerogative,  that 
is,  an  assumption  of  the  right  of  members  to  spread  what  they  please 
upon  the  Minutes  of  the  Convention,  I  could  be  faithful  to  my  trust  as  the 
head  of  that  body,  laden  with  peculiar  responsibility  in  the  preservation 
of  its  good  order,  only  by  running  the  risk  of  refusing  sanction  to,  or 
co-operation  with,  such  disorderly  proceedings.  I  could  in  no  way  recog- 
nize their  admissibility. 

I  say  running  the  risk:  for  upon  the  unhallowed  principles  which  are 
so  often  allowed  to  govern  human  conduct,  there  might  have  been — I  felt 
the  possibility,  but  feared  it  not — an  applying  of  the  maxim  which  gives  to 
power  the  control  of  right,  and  I  might  have  been  put  down  by  acclama- 
tion. But  God  be  thanked!  I  have  a  Diocese  which  fears  ilim  and  loves 
righteousness  ;  which  has  ever  been  distinguished  for  Church  knowledge, 
Church  principles,  and  sound  Church  sympathies;  and  which  had  proved, 
years  before,  how  surely  it  was  to  be  found  on  the  side  of  right,  when  dis- 
turbance is  bred  within  it.  The  principles  in  which  my  distinguished 
predecessor,  Bishop  Hobart,  so  often  found  security  and  refuge  in  his  trials 
for  the  Chu^h's  good,  were  still  its  characteristics;  and  I  was  nobly  sus- 
tained; as  appeared  by  manifestations  immediately  after  the  adjournment, 
and  has  ever  since  continued  to  appear  by  the  most  unquestionable  tokens. 
These  have  made  my  Diocese  dearer  than. ever  to  my  heart.  In  the  spirit 
of  one  of  those  noble  sallies  of  conscious  rectitude,  and  firm,  pure,  and 
unblenchcd  purpose,  which  were  so  characteristic  of  Bishop  Hobart, 
and  which  he  manifested  when,  some  thirty  years  ago,  an  effort  was  made 
in  Convention  to  interfere  with  his  Episcopal  prerogatives,  but  was  put 
down  by  wdiat  I  trust  will  ever  bo  the  tone  of  New-York  Churchmanship 
— I  would  say,  brethren,  I  thank  you  for  the  sound  principles  and  correct 
feelings  you  have  manifested,  and  the  right  stand  you  have  taken ;  but  al- 
low me  frankly  to  say,  that  highly  as  I  am  gratified  by  your  support,  and 
truly  strengthened  as'  I  feel  by  your  concurrent  opinions,  I  should,  in  any 
event,  have  persevered  in  my  purpose. 

But  it  maybe  said  that  room  should  have  been  allowed  for  explanation, 
which  might  have  resulted  in  the  offering  of  a  resolution  that  the  pro- 
posed document  be  entered  on  the  Minutes,  as  a  protest.  The  abstract 
right  of  protest  it  is  unnecessary  for  me  to  discuss.  Eminent  civilians 
have  sustained  my  course  on  the  sound  principle  connected  with  that  sub- 
ject. I  regard  the  chief  question,  however,  as  not  that  of  the  right  of 
protest. 

It  is  a  principle  of  common  justice,  that  when  official  prerogatives  are 
conferred,  and  correspondent  responsibility  defined,  by  competent  au- 
thority, rights  are  thus  invested  in  the  subject  of  those  prerogatives 
and  of  that  responsibility.  That  is,  the  person  clothed  with  the  preroga- 
tives has  a  right  to  claim  exemption  from  any  other  restriction  in  their 
exercise,  than  is  involved  in  the  prescribed  mode  and  measure  of  respon- 
sibility. 

Among  the  most  generally  acknowledged  maxims  of  good  government, 
is  to  be  ranked  that  which  makes  especial  application  of  this  principle  to 
those  who  are  invested  with  peculiarly  weighty  official  responsibilities; 


NARRATIVE   OF   EVENTS.  Gl 

and  such  as  subject  them,  for  the  public  good,  to  marked  exposure  to 
popular  misunderstanding  and  ill-will.  The  protectfon  of  these  in  the 
conscientious  and  independent  discharge  of  duty,  has  ever  been  a  leading 
object  in  every  well-regulated  polity. 

The  Church  has  not  neglected  it.  In  consideration  of  the  grievous 
weight  of  official  responsibilities  imposed  upon  her  Bishops — often  of  the 
most  delicate  nature,  involving  points  peculiarly  obnoxious  to  misunder- 
standing and  censure,  and  having  connections  and  bearings,  and  leading 
to  processes,  which  must  necessarily  be  kept,  at  least  for  a  time,  from  pub- 
lic observation — she  has  furnished  them  with  securities  in  their  official 
acts,  which  every  sound  and  intelligent  friend  of  social  order  and  good 
government  sees  to  bo  necessary  to  sustaining  them  in  the  righteous,  fear- 
less, and  independent  administration  of  their  Episcopate. 

Our  Bishops  aro  canonically  responsible  only  by  their  amenability  to 
trial  on  presentment  by  their  respective  Conventions,  or  by  any  three  of 
their  own  order.  Within  this  responsibility  they  aro  canonically  secured 
and  protected  in  the  discharge  of  their  duties.  In  no  other  way  can  they 
he  called  to  account.  Any  judgment  upon  them,  or  censure  of  them,  in 
other  modes,  is  irregular,  uncanonical,  and  an  infringement  upon  their 
rights. 

Such  judgment  and  censure  were  attempted  to  be  passed  by  the  signers 
of  Mr.  liner's  document.  I  fear  those  gentlemen — and  the  remark  applies 
in  principle  to  those  who  have  signed  the  late  appeal  to  you — were  little 
conscious  of  the  extent  to  which  they  had  suffered  themselves  to  be  drawn 
for  the  purposes  intended  by  that  paper.  Their  act  was  an  impeachment 
of  an  individual  before  a  tribunal  to  which  ho  was  not  legally  responsible, 
except  so  far  as  ib  might  choose  to  exercise  its  right  as  a  presenter  for 
trial.  But  nothing  was  brought  before  it  in  this  light.  It  was  to  be  made 
the  instrument,  through  its  Minutes,  of  condemning  the  Bishop  for  abet- 
ting unchristian  conduct  and  unsound  doctrine.  On  what  principle  of 
justice,  and  of  regard  for  ecpial  rights,  could  these  gentlemen  ask  of  me  to 
allow  myself  to  be  judged  and  censured  by  the  Convention?  Will  they 
carry  the  doctrine  on  which  their  procedure  was  based  into  any  connection 
that  they  may  sustain  with  the  administration  of  civil  justice  ? 

I  trust  you  see,  brethren,  what  is  obvious  .to  every  sound  Churchman, 
the  correctness  of  the  distinction  between  my  position  in  the  Convention 
as  Bishop  of  the  Diocese,  and  as  President  of  the  Convention.  In  my 
former  capacity,  it  is  both  my  prerogative  and  duty,  as  the  chief  pastor  of 
the  Diocese,  to  give  to  its  council,  and  through  that  to  my  whole  spiritual 
charge,  such  religious  instruction,  advice,  and  exhortation,  as  to  me  may 
seem  right  and  proper.  And  this  is  the  prerogative,  brethren,  which  I 
said,  and  now  say,  and  which  I  should  be  unworthy  of  your  confidence, 
and  of  the  oversight  of  you  which  the  Holy  Ghost  has  given  me,  if  I  should 
ever  hesitate  to  say,  I  will  assert,  and  maintain,  and  exercise,  to  the  last 
extremity. 

Such  are  the  grounds,  brethren,  on  which  I  aver  that  any  resolution 
offered  to  the  Convention  going  to  impugn  any  of  the  Bishop's  acts, 
whether  in  tho  discharge  of  his  peculiar  Episcopal  prerogatives,  or  those 
of  his  pastoral  office,  except  in  the  shape  of  a  proposed  impeachment  of 
him  for  trial,  is  irregular,  disorderly,  uncanonical,  and  an  invasion  of  his 
rights.  The  President  of  the  Convention  is  therefore  bound  to  refuse  to 
receive  it  as  utterly  out  of  order. 

Even  in  tho  matter  of  advice,  so  wisely  cautious,  conservative,  and  just 
are  our  Canons,  that  they  provide  each  Bishop,  in  the  Diocesan  Standing 
Committee,  with  his  proper  advisers  in  his  official  transactions.     The  inter- 


62  NARRATIVE  OF   EVENTS. 

ference  of  Conventions,  therefore,  in  this  matter,  directly  or  indirectly,  is 
out  of  order.  Here  is  another  important  security  to  our  Bishops  in  the 
discharge  of  their  functions.  And  while  law  thus  prescribes  and  settles 
the  mode  and  measure  of  their  responsibility,  it  thus  also,  as  before  ob- 
served, secures  their  rights.  All  reaching  beyond  it  in  the  latter,  and  all 
invasion  of  its  bounds  in  the  former,  are  necessarily  of  an  unjust,  oppres- 
sive, and  radical  character  and  tendency. 

Nor  is  this  principle,  brethren,  confined  to  Episcopal  rights  and  pre- 
rogatives. It  applies  also  to  the  clergy  and  laity.  Suppose  a  proposition 
had  come  before  the  Convention  impeaching  the  character  and  conduct  of 
one  of  the  clergy,  in  anything  that  he  may  have  done,  or  any  counsel  that 
he  may  have  given,  in  his  pastoral  capacity,  or  in  consequence  of  anything 
that  may  have  appeared  in  his  parochial  or  missionary  report,  as  spread 
upon  the  Journal ;  think  ye  that  I  would  have  allowed  of  its  being  enter- 
tained ?  No,  surely,  I  would  have  reminded  the  Convention  that  they 
were  not  a  judicial  body,  and  had  no  right  to  pass  judgment  on  the  clergy 
of  the- Diocese,  and  would  have  fearlessly  and  utterly  refused  to  subject 
any  of  my  clergy  to  such  an  invasion  of  their  rights. 

Suppose,  too,  dear  brethren  of  the  laity— for  the  supposition  comes 
fairly  within  the"  scope  of  the  matter  by  which  a  few  of  your  brethren 
have  endeavored  to  array  you  against  me — suppose  that  a  member  of  the 
Convention  should  rise  and  offer  a  document  for  entry  on  the  Minutes,  de- 
signed to  lade  any  of  you  with  charges  unfavorably  affecting  your  charac- 
ter and  standing  as  members  of  the  Church ;  think  you  that  I  would  so 
far  forget  your  rights  as  to  allow  you  to  be  thus  arraigned  before  a  body 
to  which  the  Church  has  not  made  you  responsible  ?  I  trust  you  know 
me  too  well  to  think  so. 

No,  brethren,  I  am  for  law  and  order.  I  thank  God  that  these,  as  pro- 
vided in  our  branch  of  the  Church,  so  happily  accord  with  the  great 
Catholic  principles  which  our  Divine  Lord  and  Master  has  established  for 
His  Mystical  Body.  By  these  I  wish  to  abide.  These  I  commend  to 
your  serious  consideration  and  study.  These  I  would  have  you  press 
home  to  your  consciences  in  all  that  you  do  touching  the  Church's  inter- 
ests. These  I  would  have  you  ever  bear  in  mind  with  an  especial  refer- 
ence to  your  citizenship  in  heaven,  and  your  attaining  to  union  there  with 
the  Church  of  the  first-born.  The  world  has  invested  the  Church  on  earth 
with  certain  civil  rights,  and  thus  with  a  correspondent  civil  character. 
They  are  valuable  in  their  way.  But  let  them  all  perish,  before  a  worldly 
spirit  enthrals  the  Church,  or  one  jot  or  one  tittle  of  Christ's  ordinances 
in  her  behalf  is  sacrificed. 

I  trust  you  now  see,  brethren,  that  the  appeal  which  has  been  made  to 
you  is  unfounded  and  unjust.  It  calls  on  you  to  condemn  your  Bishop  in 
•  a  way  utterly  unauthorized  by  the  Church.  I  affectionately  commend 
what 'I  have  now  said  touching  it  to  your  serious  consideration.  I  think 
it  will  satisfy  you— that  is,  those  of  you,  not  many  I  trust,  who  had  doubts 
—that  your  Bishop  has  not  transcended  his  powers,  or  forfeited  his  claim 
to  the  confidence  which  he  has  so  long  enjoyed  from  you;  that  he  has  but 
done  his  duty :  and  that  there  is  no  reason  why  the  peace,  good  order, 
and  godly  quiet  of  the  Diocese  should  be  invaded,  and  the  character 
which  it  has  ever  maintained  as  a  sound  branch  of  the  Catholic  Church 
be  jeoparded,  by  anything  connected  with  the  parochial  civil  franchise 
which  you  arc  soon  to  bo  called  to  exercise.  In  this,  as'  a  civil  mutter,  I 
would  'leave  vou  entirely  unrestrained.  But  as  a  matter  connected  with 
the  Church  of  the  living  God,  the  Spouse  and  Body  of  Christ,  and  thus 
with  your  spiritual  character  and  hopes,  I  must,  as  the   pastor  of  your 


NARRATIVE  OF   EVENTS.  63 

souls,  pray  you  to  beware  how  you  commit  yourselves.  Let  the  solemn 
fast  of  Passion  Week  be  duly  observed.  Let  the  Holy  Eucharist  be  re- 
ceived,  in  all  Christian  preparation  of  heart]  on  the  Great  Easter  Festival. 
Then,  seeking  by  special  prayer  God's  guidance  and  blessing,  go  to  the 
election  of  Wardens  and  vestrymen,  in  the  fear  of  God,  and  as  ;i  matter 
involving  solemn  Christian  responsibilities.  Let  spiritual  considerations 
and  views  preponderate  with  you;  and  lay  deeply  to  heart  the  blessings 
which  God's  word  pronounces  on  those  who  love,  and  Beet,*  and  pray  for, 
the  peace  of  Jerusalem  ;  and  its  awful  maledictions  on  those  who  foment 
and  encourage  therein  disorder,  contention,  and  strife. 

And  may  God,  dear  brethren,  bo  with  you!  Directed  by  His  most  gra- 
cious favor,  and  furthered  with  His  continual  help,  may  you — humbly, 
sincerely,  and  disinterestedly  devoted  to  His  glory,  and  the  spiritual  and 
eternal 'welfare  of  yourselves  and  your  fellow-men  —  so  dutifully  and 
piously  demean  yourselves  as  members  of  the  Church,  exemplary  in  all 
its  requirements,  and  finding  your  chief  joy  in  the  promotion  of  its  spiritual 
interests,  the  enlarging  of  its  borders,  and  the  strengthening  of  its  legiti- 
mate holy  influences,  that  finally  you  may  attain  to  the  glory,  honor,  and 
immortality  of  its  triumphant  state  in  heaven  ! 

God  grant  such  blessings  to  you  all,  through  Jesus  Christ  our  Blessed 
Lord  and  Saviour ! 

From  your  affectionate  pastor, 

Benj.  T.  Onderdonk, 

Bishop  of  New-  York. 
New-York,  March  22, 1844. 


LETTER   OF   THE   LAITY  TO   BISHOP   ONDERDONK. 

To  the  Right  Reverend  Benjamin  T.  Onderdonk,  D.  D., 

Bishop  of  the  Protestant  Episcopal  Church  in  the  Diocese  of  Nciv-York : 

We,  the  undersigned,  Laymen  of  your  Diocese,  having  noticed  an  ad- 
dress to  the  Laity,  the  object  of  which  seems  to  be  to  invite  us  to  give  a 
partisan  character  to  the  approaching  elections  of  Wardens  and  Vestry- 
men in  the  several  parishes,  desire  respectfully  to  assure  you  that  we  can- 
not allow  ourselves  to  bo  parties  to  such  a  course  of  action.  The  ground 
upon  which  the  recommendation  of  these  gentlemen  is  based — is  dissatis- 
faction at  the  decision  of  the  Bishop  in  relation  to  a  protest  offered  at  the 
close  of  the  late  Convention  against  a  portion  of  his  annual  address.  We 
forbear  to  copy  either  the  portion  of  the  address  objected  to,  or  the  pro- 
test, or  to  enter  into  any  argument  on  a  subject  which  has  already  been 
fully  discussed. 

We  do  not  see  that  the  advocates  of  dissent,  in  its  various  forms  around 
us,  are  so  quiet  and  unobservant  of  our  doings  that  it  will  be  wise  in  us  to 
be  at  variance  among  ourselves.  We  are  not  ready  to  take  part  against 
our  Bishop,  and  our  several  pastors,  nor  to  repay  their  labor,  their  love, 
and  their  prayers,  by  introducing  into  the  councils  of  the  Church  the  un- 
ruly spirit  of  the  world — its  contentions  and  strife.  We  trust  that  we 
have  so  profited  by  their  labors  and  prayers,  that  we  love  our  Church,  its 
privileges,  order,  and  law. 

"We  prefer  to  show  the  effect  of  our  Christian  nurture  by  other  modes  of 
action — not  by  contentious  disputations  about  this  fancied  •'  right,"  or  that 


64 


NARRATIVE    OF   EVENTS. 


"  speculative  opinion'7  —  but  by  an  orderly,  decent  and  Christian-like 
walk  in  all  things  relating  to  the  peace,  prosperity,  and  purity  of  the  Church 
of  God. 


David  B.  Ogden, 
Isaac  A.  Johnson, 
David  Austen. 

Nathaniel  F.  Moore 
Walter  Bowne, 
Francis  Dominick, 
William  Moore, 
H.  C.  De  Rham, 
George  Starr, 
Peter  Schermerhorn, 
J.  S.  Carpendcr, 
John  D.  Ogden, 
Ogden  Huffman, 
Henry  Laight, 
D.  A"  Cushman, 
William  Betts, 
Gabriel  Wisner, 
George  Jones, 
Henry  II.  Elliott, 
Anthony  J.  Blcecker, 
John  Leonard, 
Samuel  G.  Raj'mond, 
D.  E.  Wheeler, 
James  Delancey  Walton, 
N.  Bradner  Smith, 
A.  R.  Cushman, 
Thomas  W.  Ogden, 
J.  Cramond  Corp, 
Joseph  Curtis, 
William  II.  Wisner, 
T.  D.  Metes, 
William  Van  Hook, 

Richard  Eittcr, 

David  H.  Dick, 

Robert  W.  Cairns, 

John  J.  Brown, 

S.  M.  Hitchcock, 

Haynes  Lord, 

John  C.  Thatcher, 

Thomas  P.  (Jammings, 

II.  D.  Aldrich, 

Charles  Carville, 

G.  N.  Stebbins, 

G.  W.  Burnham, 

A.  Dimock, 

D.  B.  Turner, 

George  draper, 

David  llubhell  Hoyt, 

John  II.  Auslcn, 

Clement  C.  Moore, 

(Julian  C.  Yerplanck, 

Benjamin  Aymar, 

Murray  Hoffman, 

Abraham  Oi_'den, 

William  Bard, 

A.  Norrie, 

C.  X.  S  Rowland, 

Samuel  •'•  di  b, 

John  It.  Livingston,  Jr., 

James  F   Depeyster, 

Samuel  W.  Moore, 
Robert  D.  Weeks, 


William  II.  Hobart, 
Jacob  Walton. 
Isaac  G.  Ogden, 
Floyd  Smith, 
Theo.  B.  Bleecker, 
Henry  Bitter, 
Edward  Delarield, 
Cornelius  Oakley, 
Samuel  B.  Romaine, 
James  Stewart, 
William  II.  Lorton, 
Morris  M.  Davidson, 
James  A.  Sparks, 
George  C.  Hance, 
Edward  Hodges, 
John  W.  Thorne, 
Charles  J.  Chipp, 
Francis  V.  Many, 
Christopher  D.  Varley, 
Matthias  Jayne  Miller, 
John  F.  Nesmith, 
W.  P.  Bleecker, 
Theron  Wilber, 
J.  Wallace, 
Vincent  W.  Many, 
John  L.  Tiffany, 
Joseph  P.  Pirsson,  Jr., 
Henry  Lawrence, 
Pierre  E.  F.  McDonald, 
Theodore  Mallaby, 
Anthony  L.  Bleecker, 
Alexander  S.  Leonard, 
A.  B.  McDonald, 
H.  Meigs,  Jr , 
N.  G.  Ogden, 
Henry  Brevoort, 

William  B.  Ballow, 

John  Caswell, 

Thomas  S.  Underbill, 

James  M.  Cross, 
James  Van  Xovden, 

Henrv  TrowbridsrCj 

E.  A.'  S.  Ilaulenbeck, 

John  A.  Moore, 

II.  A.  Ten  Broeck, 

Robert  D.  Van  Voorhis, 

William  Floyd  Joins, 

William  R.Morrell, 

James  Warren,  Jr., 

Henry  Edey, 

James  Lawrence  Moore, 

Thomas  Warrin, 

John  G.  Morrell, 

Frere  Edey, 

JohnT.  I?!  Bleecker, 

Francis  Many, 

John  P.  Atkinson, 

I.  Conner, 

Edward  Roome, 

Samuel  Wiswall, 

E.  B.  Clayton, 

Elam  Bliss, 


W.  M.  Godet, 
Charles  11.  Clayton, 
George  S.  W  ood, 
John  W.  Pirsson, 
Alexander  T.  Clayton, 
William  Miner, 
Robert  Dickson, 
John  R.  Lewis, 
N.  M.  Stratton, 
John  O^den, 
John  Blunt, 
Benjamin  A.  Mumford, 
Win.  H.  Townsend, 
John  Grigg, 
Robert  Pettigrew, 
Henry  Wilson, 
E.  M.  Brintnall, 
Robert  A.  Sands, 
Francis  Smith, 
Daniel  0.  Gibb, 
Benjamin  Sands, 
George  C.  Miller, 
John  B.  Seaman, 
Thomas  II.  Ncwbold, 
William  Barnewall, 
W.  D.  Waddington, 
Robert  L.  Patterson, 
Richard  H.  Ogden, 
Theo.  B.  Satterth-vvaite. 
J.  B.  Wood, 
R.  N.  Wenman, 
William  IT.  Beare, 
Edmund  M.  Young, 
J.  J.  Davis, 
G.  F.  Mott, 
John  Warrin, 
Abner  Cook,  Jr. 
John  Richardson, 
Henry  Youngs, 
J.  Burges, 
John  B.  Hunter, 
Moses  Smith, 
Horace  Everett, 
Charles  Osborn, 
John  V.  Dixev, 
C.  R.  Gilman, 
H.  Leroy  Newbold, 
H.C  Hobart, 
Charles  A.  Lee, 
William  C.  Dusenbury, 
Charles  D.  Mead, 
Henry  Youngs,  Jr., 
Charles  J.  Livingston, 
Abraham  Lj  Cox, 

A.  L.  McDonald,  Jr., 
Richard  Van  Dyke,  Jr., 
James  Reyl  urn, 
Arthur  Stewart, 
Fanning  C.  Tucker, 

B.  T.  Kissam, 
William  P.  Powers, 
Samuel  Holmes, 


NARRATIVE    OF    EVENTS. 


65 


Lewis  Phillips, 
William  I  <    bei  ley, 
Theodore  1'.  Phillips, 
John  Read  ■  Kearney, 
( iharles  Rhind.  Jr., 
George  R.  A.  Ricketts, 
I  !'lw  ard  1  [incken, 
John  I  [unter  Graham, 
( rouverneur  ( tgden, 
[saac  Townsend, 
Philip  J.  Forbes, 
Joshua  ■lour-:, 
L.  M.  Hoffman, 
J.  Q.  Jones, 
George  T.  Strong, 
William  II.  Jephson, 
tsaac  Jones, 
Dayton  Hobart, 
Jofm  1).  Satterthwaite, 
J.  I..  Pell, 
Martin  Hoffman, 
Henry  1.  Seaman, 
Abel  T.  Anderson, 
E.  Houghton,  Jr., 
Thomas  C.  Butler, 
Thomas  Browning, 
George  Case, 
T.  J.  Crowen, 
Daniel  Marvin, 
Samuel  J.  Willis, 
Frederick  A  Union, 
Isaac  0.  1?  irker, 
Alexander  L.  McDonald, 
E.  AVaiuwright  Butler, 
W.Corp, 
Philip  Dater, 
Harman  Westervelt, 
P.  A.  Schermerhom, 
R.  J.  Vanderwater, 
John  Ruthven, 
Edward  G.  Ludlow, 
William  S.  Popham, 
John  Snowden, 
Thomas  L.  0  ;den, 
Joseph  W.  Barker, 
Wm.  II.  Harison, 

New- York,  March  29, 


( tscar  Rullus, 
F.  E.  Ellison, 
Edward  Bullus, 

Jotliam  Smit  li, 

Roberl  D.  Ward, 
Charles  Taylor, 
Roberl  Bayard, 
Frederick  J.  Betts, 
Edward  S.  limes, 
Richard  Sterling, 
(Join.  Morris  Wilkins, 
John  Battin, 
Frederick  Sill, 
J.  Litton, 

William  A.  Duncan, 
Edward  W.  ( !andee, 
S.  I.  Husted, 
William  II.  Phelps, 
P.  Ford, 

AVilliam  E.  Ross, 
Henry  Mason, 
J.  AA  .  Johnson, 
James  ( rn\  on,  Sen., 
H.  S.  Bedell, 
Isaac  Seymour, 
William  II.  Vermilye, 
James  J.  Jones, 
Townsend  G>x, 
Charles  W.  Carmer, 
James  Renwick,  Jr., 
William  Henrv  Priest, 
William  R.  Taylor, 
L.  M.  II.  Butler, 
AVilliam  II.  Bell, 
Joseph  P  Pirsson, 
G.  E.  Baldwin, 
AVilliam  E.  Dunscomb, 
Tennis  Quick, 
C.  F.  Buhler, 
Smith  Barker, 
AVilliam  N.  Dyckman, 
John  AV.  Mills, 
Edward  P.  Torrey, 
AVilliam  Castle, 
AVilliam  Van  Norden, 
Wm.  C.  Dayton, 
1844. 


Charles  Davis, 
Edward  ( loles, 
I  [enry  Suj  dam.  Jr., 
William  <i.  Wiiliston, 
Roberl  Dickson, 
Edmund  Aloorewood, 
I  >aniel  I  takei . 
E.  Boonen  <  •  raves, 
( 'hail'  i  Walker. 
John  A.  !•'.  Rachau, 
A.  (>.  Parmelee, 
John  Ferguson, 
Roberl  S.  I  roff, 

John  II.   Lyell, 

AVilliam  Delaneld, 
P.  Reynolds, 
Robert  C,  AVetmore, 

E.  1'-.  Cutting, 

F.  R.  Tillou," 
John  J.  .Moure, 
Richard  Sill, 
Georgo  Tomes, 
Joseph  Battin, 
John  II.  Swift, 
Edgar  Brodhead, 
I.  AV.  Fowler, 
Merit  AVelton, 
Nelson  Jarvis, 
Theodore  M.  Tuthill, 
James  E.  Johnson, 
Henry  I.  Seaman,  Jr., 
David  A.  Edgar, 
Joseph  Bedell, 
AAralter  Betts, 
Richard  A\rhittingham, 
David  S.  Jones, 
Edmund  II.  Pendleton, 
Isaac  D.  Vermilye, 
Charles  Beardsley, 
Columbus  Lane, 
Isaac  G.  Ogden,  Jr., 
J.  AV.  Mitchell, 

E.  AV.  Laight, 
AVilliam  Bakewell, 
John  S.  Barker, 
Charles  Fitz  AVetmore. 


REPLY  OF  BISHOP  ONDERDONK  TO  THE  AB0ArE. 
To  David  73.  Oc.den,  Clement  C.  Moore,  LL.  D.,  and  other  Laymen, 

WHO  ADDRESSED  TO  ME  A  COMMUNICATION,   DATED  MARCH  29tH,   1844. 

Brethren — In  every  department  of  duty  peculiar  satisfaction  is  attached 
to  its  conscientious  discharge,  when  it  is  found  to  he  approved  hy  the  wise 
and  good.  This  is  especially  true  of  those  duties  which  involve  peculiarly 
heavy  responsibilities,  and  peculiar  exposure  to  misapprehension  or  mis- 
representation by  those  who,  from  inability,  unwillingness,  or  other  cause,- 
may  fail  properly  to  appreciate  them.  There  are  a  delicacy,  a  sacred- 
ness,  and  a  character  and  extent  of  consequences,  attached  to  pastoral 
functions  which  invest  thcmw'ith  a  still  more  especial  interest  in  this  prin- 
ciple. Nor  is  its  value  at  all  abated  when  the  course  approved  has  been 
adopted  without  regard  to  man's  opinion. 

Therefore,  my  dear  brethren,  have  the  time  and  occasion  of  your  address 


66  NARRATIVE    OF    EVENTS. 

added  greatly  to  the  gratification  which  I  should  always  experience  from 
evidence  of  your  interest  in  the  Church,  of  your  approval  of  my  course. 
and  of  the  kind  regard  and  sympathy  of  so  many  of  the  best  laity  of  my 
Diocese,  of  those  whom,  for  a  series  of  years,  it  has  been  my  privilege  to 
rank  among  my  most  valued  personal  friends,  and  the  most  active  friends 
of  the  Church,  and  of  those  with  whom  it  was  once  my  high  satisfaction 
to  think  and  act  when  troublous  times  agitated  the  administration  of  my 
great  and  good  predecessor. 

Your  desire  for  peace,  and  determination  to  maintain  it,  no  reasonable 
and  just  man  who  knows  you  will  for  a  moment  attribute  to  any  other 
than  a  conscientious  and  independent  sense  of  duty.  The  circumstances 
and  important  subjects  connected  with  that  desire  and  determination  have 
long  been  familiar  to  you,  and  been  thoroughly  weighed  by  you.  And  I 
risk" nothing  in  saving  that  they  have  found  among  you,  in  their  investiga- 
tion, a  knowledge  of  the  subject,  a  strength  and  clearness  of  understand- 
ing, an  independence  of  principle,  a  virtuousness  of  purpose,  a  purity  of 
Christian  conscience,  and  a  devoted  and  enlightened  Churehmanship, 
greater  than  which  is  not  to  be  found  in  any  body  of  American  citizens. 
I  thank  you,  brethren,  for  the  principles,  feelings,  and  views,  which  you 
have  manifested ;  and  hesitate  not  to  say,  in  the  very  best  sense  of  the  ex- 
pression, that  I  feel  proud  of  them. 

Your  address,  so  numerously  signed,  and  50  signed  in  a  brief  space  of 
time,  is  a  most  welcome  confirmation  of  the  evidence  I  am  perpetually  re- 
ceiving from  all  parts  of  the  Diocese,  that  the  great  body  of  my  brethren 
of  the  laity  are  very  far  from  sympathizing  with  the  spirit  which  would 
represent  me  as  adverse  to  lay  influence,  and  disposed  to  interfere  with 
lay  rights,  in  the  Church.  They  know  this  is  false.  Neither  in  my  lan- 
guage nor  conduct  have  they  observed  anything  to  justify  the  aspersion. 
It  is  well  known  that  I  receive  our  ecclesiastical  constitution  as  a  great 
blessing  handed  down  to  us  by  our  fathers,  and  have  often  expressed  de- 
vout gratitude  to  God  for  having  dealt  so  mercifully  with  this  branch  of 
His  Holy  Church,  under  the  peculiarly  disadvantageous,  trying,  and  ad- 
verse circumstances  which  beset  it  when  our  country  emerged  from  its 
long  struggle  against  the  oppressions  of  that  wherein  was  seated  the 
Church  of  our  affections,  but  of  the  deadly  hostility  of  the  great  mass 
around  us  ;  and  which  it  was  difficult  for  even  ourselves  to  sever  from  the 
influence  of  political  principles,  views,  and  prejudices.  Of  the  happy 
balance  established  between  Episcopal,  clerical,  and  lay  influence  in  our 
ecclesiastical  concerns,  I  have  ever  spoken  with  approbation,  and  with 
gratitude  for  constantly  accumulating  evidence  that  it  works  well.  I 
should  be  unthankful,  indeed,  were  not  my  feelings  on  this  subject  warmed 
by  the  recollection  of  the  valuable  counsel  I  have  taken  with  pious,  en- 
lightened, and  devoted  laymen,  of  the  important  services  they  have  often 
rendered  to  the  Church  in  her  Conventions,  and  of  the  noble  stand  which 
the  laity  of  this  Diocese  took  around  their  Bishop  and  clergy,  when,  in 
former  years,  an  effort,  similar  to  that  now  on  foot  was  made  to  array  the 
former  against  the  latter  ;  and  by  the  assurances — let  me  gratefully  add — 
now  reaching  me  from  every  quarter,  that  they  are  still  good  and  true. 
The  insinuation  that  they  are  then  only  independent  and  honorable  when 
they  array  themselves  against  their  pastors,  has  too  unworthy  a  source  to 
entitle  it  to  a  moment's  consideration. 

I  am  aware,  however,  brethren,  that  you  are  often  met  with  the  remark, 
that  all  this  was  proved  to  be  nothing  worth  in  the  matter  touching  Mr. 
Duer's  procedure  towards  the  close  of  the  last  Convention.  Let  us  look  a 
little  into  this. 

Mr.  Duer  rose  and  stated  in  substance,  that  he  had  a  matter  to  propound 


NARRATIVE   OF   EVENTS.  07 

which  he  did  not  bring  forward  for  discussion.  This  sentiment,  namely, 
that  he  did  not  design  to  furnish  material  for  debate,  was  repeated  by  him 
more  than  once.     1  beg  you  to  bear  this  particularly  in  mind. 

lie  then  read  a  document  which  he  said  had  some  names  attached  to  it, 
and  would  probably  have  mure.  This  document,  no  matter  in  what  style 
expressed,  Drought  against  mo  the  charge  of  abetting,  in  strong  terms  of 
commendation,  doctrines  and  a  spirit  not  entitled  to  the  confidence  and  sup- 
port of  Protestant  Episcopalians  —  in  other  words,  false  doctrine,  and  an 
ungodly  spirit  ;  and  this  in  a  way  directly  tending,  not  only  to  the  cor- 
ruption of  my  own  Diocese,  but  also  to  the  extensive  diffusion  of  error 
throughout  the  Church. 

The  document  having  been  read,  Mr.  D..  after  repeating  that  he  did  not 
present  matter  for  discussion,  but  simply  desired  the  insertion  of  the  docu- 
ment on  the  Minutes  with  such  signatures  as  were  or  might  lie  attached  to 
it,  took  his  seat.  What  followed  on  my  part  has  been  denounced  as  a 
daring  attempt  to  violate  the  rights  of  the  laity. 

It  is  entirely  obvious,  however,  that  this  connection  of  the  matter  with 
the  peculiar  rights  of  the  laity  could  not  have  been  thought  of  by  sensible 
men,  if  it  were  not  to  be  rendered  subservient  to  collateral  purposes.  It 
had  in  no  just  sense  a  peculiar  reference  to  the  laity.  It  is  true,  a  lay 
member  was  the  spokesman,  but  not  in  his  lay  capacity.  He  represented 
clergymen  as  well  as  laymen.  The  working  up  of  the  event  into  an 
especial  attack  by  me  upon  the  laity,  is  obviously  gratuitous  and  unwar- 
ranted. No  one,  I  presume,  doubts  that  had  the  signers  put  forward  a 
clergyman  instead  of  a  layman,  he  would  have  met  with  the  same  recep- 
tion. The  charge  against  me,  therefore,  of  an  infringement  of  lay  rights, 
may  safely,  as  it  should  injustice,  be  dismissed. 

And  now,  what  was  the  document  ? 

It  was  not  a  paper  fairly  before  the  Convention.  Mr.  Duer  could  not 
have  considered  it  such,  or  he  certainly,  as  an  intelligent  man,  would  not 
have  said  time  and  again,  that  he  did  not  offer  it  for  discussion.  He  has 
vastly  more  than  sense  enough  to  be  Avell  assured  that  such  a  paper, 
offered  to  the  consideration  of  the  Convention,  could  not  have  failed  to  elicit 
warm  and  protracted  debate.  He  meant  what  he  certainly  expressed,  that 
it  was  to  be  merely  read  and  entered  on  the  Minutes.  If  this  was  not  pre- 
suming upon  a  right,  what  was  it  ? 

Again.  The  gentleman  thus  acting  as  the  representative  of  clerical  and 
lay  associates,  has  not  a  little  just  reputation  for  an  accurate  knowledge 
of  the  principles  of  parliamentary  order  and  propriety.  He,  therefore,  of 
course,  knows  that  no  subject  is  fairly  before  a  deliberative  body  except  in 
the  shape  of  a  resolution  made  and  seconded.  He  offered  no  resolution; 
but  simply  read  a  document  which  he  expressed  a  desire  should  go  upon 
the  Minutes  without  discussion,  and  therefore  without  any  conventional  ac- 
tion. It  would  be  derogatory  to  his  good  sense,  and  his  knowledge  of  the 
subject,  to  suppose  that  he  considered  the  word  "request"  occurring  to- 
wards the  close  of  the  document,  as  tantamount  to  a  formal  resolution, 
and,  therefore,  bringing  the  subject,  in  orderly  manner,  before  the  Conven- 
tion. He  knows  that  no  written  request  is  ever  in  order  for  action  by  a 
deliberative  body  unless  a  resolution  is  offered  and  seconded,  cither  favorable 
to  the  request,  or  otherwise.  He,  therefore,  must  have  intended  that  the 
document  was,  of  course,  and  without  action  by  the  Convention,  to  be  handed 
over  to  the  Secretary  for  insertion  on  the  Minutes. 

Surely  I  was  not  wrong  in  construing  the  whole  transaction  into  a  claim 
of  a  right.  The  term  "  request"  could  not,  for  the  reasons  stated,  have  been 
intended  by  Mr.  Duer  to  bring  the  subject  under  the  cognizance  of  the  Con- 


68  NARRATIVE  OF  EVENTS. 

vention.  It  was  a  courteous  mode  of  signifying  the  demand  of  the  signers. 
I  was  reminded  of  it  when  I  read  in  a  communication  of  a  late  number  of 
The  Churchman,  an  extract  from  Clarendon's  History  of  the  Rebellion. 
Speaking  of  the  right  of  protest  in  the  British  House  of  Lords,  he  says, 
"  It  is  ai°old  custom  and  privilege  of  the  House,  that  upon  any  solemn  de- 
bate whosoever  is  not  satisfied  with  the  conclusion  and  judgment  of  the 
House,  may  demand  leave  to  enter  his  protestation,  which  must  be  granted. '' 
"  Leave"  is  defined  by  Richardson  to  mean  "  permission,  concession, 
sufferance/'  These  terms  necessarily  suppose  a  right  to  grant  or  with- 
hold the  leave.  And  yet  courtesy  of  expression  led  to  that  being  called 
''■leave''  which  was  claimed  by  "demand,"  and  which,  it  was  understood, 
'•'  must  be  granted.1'  Very  much  like  this  is  the  meaning,  if  it  has  any 
meaning,  of  the  term  "  request'  introduced  into  a  document  which  its  pro- 
pounder  clearly  supposed  was  to  be  received  without  discussion,  and, 
therefore,  as  a  matter  of  course.  Is  it  too  strong  language  to  say  that  a 
right  was  herein  assumed  ?  If  it  is  not,  an  assumption  was  put  for- 
ward to  which  I  could  not,  as  President  of  the  Convention,  listen  for  a  mo- 
ment. In  the  very  terms  of  the  document,  and  by  the  express  desire  and 
intention  of  its  propoundor,  it  was  shut  out  from  the  cognizance  of  the 
Convention.  Nothing  was  in  order  before  that  body.  All  that  the  gentle- 
man said — and  he  was  patiently  heard  through  the  whole,  and  until  he 
had  taken  his  seat— presented  nothing  that  was  in  order.  On  the  con- 
trary, the  shape  in  which  the  protest  was  put,  offered  an  indignity  to  the 
Convention  by  the  supposition  which  it  involved,  that  that  body  was  pre- 
pared quietly  to  succumb  to  such  a  high-handed  effort  to  exercise  control 
over  its  Minutes.  I  felt  that  this  indignity  was  offered,  and  that  my 
brethren  of  the  clergy  and  laity  had  a  claim  upon  me  to  repel  it. 

But  this  was  not  the  only  duty  which  the  emergency  devolved  upon  me. 
The  document  thus  offered,  to  find  its  way  upon  the  Minutes  through  the 
io-norance,  fear,  or  supineness  of  the  Convention,  contained  an  attack  upon 
me.      It  accused  me  of  earnest  endeavors  to  disseminate  false  doctrine 
throughout  my  Diocese,  and  throughout  the  Church.     I  will  not  repeat, 
brethren,  what  is  advanced  in  my  late  Pastoral  Letter  to  the  Laity  of  the 
Diocese,  in  proof  of  the  unlawfulness  and  injustice  of  this.      It  gave  to  the 
document,  besides  its  absence  of  all  claim  to  the  consideration  of  theCon- 
vention,  the  character  of  a  personal  matter  between  the  gentleman  intro- 
ducing it — for  he   named  no  others — and  myself.     The  Convention  had 
nothino-  to  do  with  it.     An  attack  had  been  made  by  him  upon  me  as  Bishop 
of  the°  Diocese.      I  repelled  it  in  few  words — words  indeed  of  honest 
warmth,  but  not  disproportioned,  I  trust,  to  the  indignity  thus  rendered  to 
my  office  *     My  appreciation  of  the  intelligence  of  the  mover  in  the  busi- 
ness would  not  allow  me  to  imagine  for  a  moment  that  he  was  unaware  of 
the  real  character  of  the  transaction,  and  of  the  position  in  which  it  placed 
him.     He  did  not  intend,  as  he  said  he  did  not,  to  propose  a  subject  for 
discussion,  that  is,  for  the  consideration  of  the  Convention.     He  meant  to 
reach  me  through  a  shorter  process — a  document  which,  under  his  manage- 
ment,  the  Convention,  its  President   and  Secretary,  were   to  allow_  to  go 
quietly  on  the  Minutes,  and  thus  to  hold  me  up  to  public  censure  without 
even  the  form  of  a  trial. 

That  gentleman  would  probably  regard  it  as  no  compliment  to  have 
imputed  to  him  the  weakness  of  changing  his  ground,  and  thus  owning 
the  ideal  character,  as  well  as  the  failure,  of  his  tactics.     I  could  sup- 


L» 


See  note  on  p.  13. 


NARRATIVE   OF    l.VI.XTS.  69 

pose  him  to  rise  a  second  time  for  no  other  purpose  than  explanation,  and 
such  I  clearly  understood  to  he  his  object  in  rising.  But  it  was  a  matter  not 
in  order  before  the  Convention.  It  was  one  solely  between  him  and  myself. 
I  was  not  willing  to  impose  the  farther  consideration  of  it  upon  the  '''in- 
vention. Neither  time  nor  place  was  fitting  for  this.  Regarding  it  a  a 
personal  matter,  in  which  I  had  been  yery  wrongfully  treated,  my  honest 
wish  was  either  to  let  it  there  drop — fori  have  no  desire  to  remember 
injuries — or  to  reserve  further  explanations  for  a  more  fitting  time  and 
place. 

A 1; hough,  however,  this  gentleman  could  not  bo  justly  suspected  of  a 
desire  or  endeavor  to  give  such  a  shape  to  the  business,  as,  bringing  it 
within  the  Convention's  rules  of  order,  to  acknowledge  the  disorderly 
nature  of  bis  first  movement,  yet,  if  his  friends  felt  strong  in  the  conscious- 
ness of  right,  there  was  abundant  opportunity  to  present  the  subject  in 
such  a  way  that  it  might  come  in  order  before  the  Convention.  What  I 
have  to  say  on  this  head  shall  be  arranged  under  supposed  cases. 

Order  having  been  restored,  a  resolution  might,  of  course,  have  been 
submitted  by  any  member. 

If  the  resolution  had  been  one  of  censure  upon  The  Churchman,  I 
would  probably  have  reminded  the  Convention  that  the  discussing  of  the 
merits  of  theological  works  hardly  came  within  their  constitutional  and 
Canonical  prerogatives;  that  the  constituents  of  the  lay  members  could 
hardly  have  contemplated  that  as  an  object  for  which  they  were  appointed; 
and  that  it  certainly  appeared  to  he  at  variance  with  the  spirit  of  our 
ecclesiastical  system,  which  might,  in  many  ways,  be  shown  to  be  adverse 
to  the  ordinary  introduction  of  doctrinal  discussions  into  our  Conventions. 
I  should  therefore  have  been  justified  in  pronouncing  the  resolution  out 
of  order,  subject  of  course  to  an  appeal  to  the  Convention.  It  is  not  im- 
probable, however,  that  I  would  have  waived  this,  and  left  the  question 
to  the  direct  decision  of  the  House. 

If  the  resolution  had  embodied,  in  form  or  substance,  the  matter  of  Mr. 


had  been  made  from  my  decision,  I  should,  of  course,  have  taken  the  ques- 
tion on  that  appeal.  Had  it  been  sustained,  I  should— I  hope  respect- 
fully and  kindly,  but  certainly  conscientiously  and  firmly — have  signified 
my  utter  protest,  as  Bishop  of  the  Diocese,  against  so  high-handedan 
infringement  of  my  rights  as  any  censure,  save  in  the  shape  of  Canonical 
impeachment,  upon  my  official  acts  ;  declared  my  determination  in  no  way 
to  sanction  so  flagrant  a  violation  of  our  ecclesiastical  compact,  and  there- 
fore not  to  be  present  in  any  deliberations  or  acts  connected  with  it;  given 
fair  and  honest  warning  that  I  should  pay  no  respect  to  any  action  by 
which  my  rights  should  bo  thus  invaded;  and  left  the  Convention,  never 
again  to  appear  in  it,  until  it  had  recovered  its  character  for  Christian 
justice  and  Church  order.  To  my  Diocese,  however,  I  should  of  course 
continue  to  do  my  duty  as  God  might  give  ability,  though  having  to 
follow  my  Master  and  His  first  ministers  in  the  midst  of  an  unjust  and  per- 
secuting generation. 

I  need  not  say,  brethren,  how  near,  for  the  purpose  of  illustrating  a 
principle,  I  have  carried  supposition  to  the  utmost  bound  of  possibility. 
Of  anything  bearing  the  most  distant  resemblance  to  such  a  case  I  have  not 
the  least  fear.  I  am  not  so  unjust  to  my  beloved  Diocese.  Its  Christian  and 
Church-like  character  forbids  this.  My  understanding  and  my  heart  unite 
to  assure  me  that  there  is  no  danger  of  it.     The  spiritual  pastors  of  tho 


70  NARRATIVE   OF   EVENTS. 

Diocese  are  too  true  to  their  sacred  obligations.  Its  laity  are  too  thor- 
oughly imbued  with  the  principles  and  spirit  of  the  beloved  brethren  whom 
I  now  particularly  address,  and  the  multitudes  of  others  who  I  know, 
sympathize  with  them  entirely.  May  God  bless  them  all,  remember  for 
good  their  devotion  to  His  cause,  and  increase  and  multiply  upon  them 
those  influences  of  His  Holy  Spirit,  whereby  they  may  truly  love  and 
serve  the  Church,  and  be  carried  onward,  in  the  cherishing  of  its  holy 
faith,  and  the  practical  manifestation  of  its  sober  and  efficient  piety,  to  its 
eternal  rewards  in  heaven  ! 

From  your  faithful,  affectionate,  and  grateful  Pastor, 

Benj.  T.  Onderdonk, 

Bishop  of  New-  York. 
New-York,  Monday  in  Easter  Week, 
April  8,  1844. 


PASTORAL  LETTER  ON  THE  GENERAL  CONVENTION  OF  1844. 
To  the  Clergy  and  Brethren  of  My  Spiritual  Charge: 

Bear  Brethren — It  is  well  known  to  some  of  you  that  when,  a  few 
years  ago,  differences  and  agitations,  long  excluded  from  our  Diocese, 
were  unhappily  introduced  into  it,  threats  were  made,  in  reference  to  my 
real  or  supposed  connection  with  them,  of  action  against  myself,  having 
in  view  nothing  short  of  my  official  destruction.  These  were  repeated 
from  time  to  time,  as  occasions  were  taken  for  opposition  to  my  friends  or 
myself.  As  our  late  Diocesan  Convention,  and  the  late  General  Conven- 
tion, approached,  and  during  the  latter,  those  threats  were  renewed,  with 
the  obvious  design  of  producing  an  influence  on  the  action  of  that  body. 
While  I  was  engaged  in  my  duties  there,  it  came  to  my  knowledge  that 
plans  had  been  formed,  and  untiring  means  adopted,  having  in  view  the 
object  of  the  threats  to  which  I  have  alluded.  The  most  industrious  efforts 
were  made  to  injure  me  by  false  reports,  and  by  statements  which  I  was 
not  allowed  to  see.  The  same  course,  I  understood,  was  pursued  in  this 
city. 

1  have  expressed  a  desire  for  a  Canonical  investigation  of  the  case  ;  and 
know  you  too  well,  dear  brethren,  to  doubt  for  a  moment  that  you  will  do 
me  the  justice  to  suspend  your  opinion  until  the  result  of  that  investiga- 
tion is  known. 

Commending  you  to  the  blessings  of  God's  providence  and  grace,  and 
soliciting,  now  and  at  all  times,  your  prayers  in  my  behalf,  I  am,  dear 
brethren, 

Your  affectionate  Pastor, 

Benj.  T.  Onderdonk, 

Bishop  of  New-  York. 
New-York,  Oct.  .25,  1844. 

p.  s. — The  above  was  prepared  the  day  after  my  return  to  New-York, 
but  its  publication  has  been  withholden  a  few  days  by  the  advice  of  judi- 
cious friends.  B-  T-  °« 


NARRATIVE    OF    EVENTS.  71 


TREATMENT  OF  BISHOP  ONDERDONK  IN'  THE  HOUSE  OF  BISHOls. 

On  the  first  day  of  last  October  [1844]  I  left  home  for  the  city  of  Phila- 
delphia, i"  attend  to  my  duties  as  a  member  of  our  General  Ecclesiastical 
Convention,  which  was  to  meet  in  that  city.     The  Convention  of  my  own 

Diocese  had  just  closed  its  annual  session.  It  had  teen  unusually  large, 
and  distinguished  by  a  very  marked  degree  of  unity  and  harmony.  The 
circumstances  under  which  it  assembled,  were  such  as  to  render  its  pro- 
ceedings a  very  special  proof  of  the  kindest  feelings  of  confidence  and 
affection  on  the  part  of  the  clergy  and  laity  of  the  Diocese,  toward  their 
Bishop.  The  reports  laid  before  it,  and  there  made  to  me,  gave  strong 
evidence  of  the  divine  goodness  in  blessing  the  Diocese  with  a  large  meas- 
ure of  spiritual  and  temporal  good. 

Rejoicing  in  the  consolation  and  encouragement  thus  afforded,  I  repaired 
to  the  General  Convention,  and  gave  myself  to  its  duties  in  a  spirit  of 
humble  and  grateful  devotion  to  the  Church.  Soon,  however,  it  became 
manifest,  from  the  deportment  of  several  of  my  Right  Reverend  brethren, 
that  they  had  somewhat  against  me.  They  said  nothing.  Not  a  word  did 
I  hear  of  any  rumors  or  accusations  against  me  ;  not  a  word  of  a  brother's 
anxiety  to  be  set  right;  not  a  word  of  fraternal  warning,  caution,  or  admo- 
nition. Cold,  repulsive,  discourteous  manner,  told  a  dark  and  uncertain 
tale  on  which  Christian  converse  might  and  should  have  thrown  light. 

Some  six  or  seven  days  after  the  opening  of  the  Convention,  when  the 
House  of  Bishops  were  about  coming  to  order,  Bishop  Meade  approached 
me,  and  suggested  that  I  had  better  leave  the  House.  I  expressed  my 
surprise,  and  asked  why  he  made  the  suggestion.  He  said  he  could  not 
explain  the  reasons,  but  again  urged  me  to  absent  myself.  On  my  repeat- 
ing my  surprise  at  a  proposition  so  dark  and  suspicious,  and  so  little  com- 
porting with  the  courtesy  of  a  gentleman,  the  duty  of  a  friend  and  brother, 
and  the  proprieties  of  a  Christian,  he  said  that  if  I  continued  in  the  House 
my  feelings  might  be  hurt.  This  increased  my  surprise,  and  I  demanded 
of  him  his  reasons  for  so  strange  a  procedure.  He  hesitated  about  giving 
any  explanation.  I  warmly  expostulated  with  him  on  the  injustice  and 
wickedness  of  the  course  he  was  pursuing.  At  length,  as  if  reluctantly 
compelled,  ho  said  that  there  were  reports  unfavorable  to  my  character, 
respecting  which  ho  wished  to  take  the  counsel  of  the  Bishops.  I  felt 
what  I  trust  was  just  indignation,  and  expressed  myself  to  this  effect: — 
Now  my  course  is  clear.  I  will  not  shrink.  I  will  remain  at  my  post. 
If  any  man  has  aught  against  mo,  let  him  look  me  in  the  face,  and  say 
what  it  is.  I  also  spoke  strongly  of  his  unworthy  design  of  inducing  me 
to  withdraw,  that  he  might,  in  my  absence,  make  my  character  and  conduct 
the  subject  of  discussion' in  the  House  of  Bishops.  He  replied,  Not  in  the 
House  of  Bishops,  but  before  the  Bishops  informally  !  !  This  unholy  evasion 
was  the  subject  of  severe  remarks ;  but  I  trust  not  more  severe  than  it 
deserved.  I  asked  what  were  the  charges  against  me  ?  He  said  he  was 
not  at  liberty  to  tell ;  and  there  our  conversation  ended.  This  was  all  I 
ever  heard  from  this  brother  of  his  having  aught  against  me  until  he  was 
about  to  become  one  of  my  presenters  for  trial.  Yet  I  have  good  evidence 
that  Bishop  Meade  had,  for  years,  been  speaking  against  me,  and  con- 
tributing towards  public  rumor  to  my  prejudice. 

After  some  time,  Bishop  Meade  came  to  me  again,  and  said,  in  substance, 
You  were  right.  I  will  have  nothing  more  to  do  with  the  matter.  They 
must  attend  to  their  own  business.  These  last  words  satisfied  me  that 
he  had  been  acting  in  concert  with  others.  And  when  we  consider  the 
darkness  and  secrecy  with  which  he  acted  his  part,  bow  can  an  honorable 


72  NARRATIVE    OF    EVENTS. 

and  Christian  man  think  otherwise  than  that  he  was  connected  -with  a  con- 
spiracy against  me  ! 

On,  I  think,  Monday,  October  14th,  the  Presiding  Bishop,  in  his  place  in 
the  House  of  Bishops,  held  in  his  hand  a  paper,  of  which  a  copy  had  been 
previously  sent  to  me,  directed  to  him  as  President,  which  he  asked  if  it 
was  the  pleasure  of  the  House  to  have  read.  Its  purport  was  demanded 
by  one  of  the  Bishops.  Bishop  Chase,  the  Presiding  Bishop,  said  that  it 
related  to  the  character  and  conduct  of  the  Bishop  of  New-York,  and  he 
asked  me  if  I  wished  to  retire.  Of  course,  so  extraordinary  an  inquiry  was 
answered  in  the  negative.  Earnest  remonstrance  was  made  by  several  of 
the  Bishops  against  the  propriety  of  such  a  paper  having  been  brought 
into  the  House,  and  against  its  being  received,  opened,  or  read ;  because  it 
was  uucanonical  and  disorderly  to  bring  a  Bishop's  character  under  the 
official  notice  of  his  brethren,  except  in  the  mode  pointed  out  by  law.  The 
ultimate  result  was  a  refusal  to  receive  the  document,  and  its  being 
returned  unopened  to  the  persons  who  had  presented  it.  I  need  hardly 
say,  that  I  felt  myself  deeply  injured  by  the  Presiding  Bishop  in  his 
allowing  himself  to  be  an  agent  in  so  irregular  and  unjust  a  procedure,  as 
bringing  such  a  document  into  the  House. — Statement  of  Facts,  January, 
1845. 


CORRESPONDENCE  BETWEEN  THE  BISHOP  AND  THE  PRESENTERS. 

LETTER     OF     THE     PRESENTERS. 

New-York,  November  5,  1844. 

Right  Reverend  and  Dear  Brother — During  the  investigation  of  the 
painful  charges  which  have  been  laid  before  us,  affecting  the  purity  of 
your  conduct,  a  short  Pastoral  Address  to  the  clergy  and  laity  of  your 
Diocese  [see  p.  70]  has  been  handed  us,  which  leads  us  to  suppose,  that 
notwithstanding  the  clear  definition  of  the  position  in  which  we  now  stand 
in  relation  to  yourself,  made  in  your  presence  in  the  House  of  Bishops, 
you  misunderstand  that  position,  and  assume  it  to  be  connected  with  per- 
sons and  circumstances  with  which  it  has  no  concern  whatever. 

These  charges,  you  may  remember,  were  laid  before  the  House  of  Bish- 
ops in  a  memorial  purporting  to  come  from  two  highly  respectable  clergy- 
men, and  three  equally  respectable  laymen  of  the  Church,  and  all  holding 
the  responsible  office  of  Trustees  of  the  General  Theological  Seminary. 
Of  these  memorialists,  two  or  three  had  been  solemnly  charged  by  the 
Diocese  of  South  Carolina  to  investigate  rumors  affecting  the  welfare  of 
the  Seminary;  and  in  the  course  of  that  investigation,  these  charges 
against  your  moral  purity  had  come  before  them  in  such  a  responsible 
shape,  that  they  felt  compelled,  by  a  sense  of  duty,  to  lay  them  before 
the  House  of  Bishops  as  Visitors  of  the  Seminary.  You  may  remember 
likewise,  that  upon  the  appearance  of  that  memorial,  an  excited  discussion 
was  likely  to  arise  respecting  the  right  of  the  Bishops  to  receive  such  a 
paper  coming  in  such  a  shape,  when  one  of  us,  your  brethren,  and  in  your 
presence,  submitted  certain  questions  determining  the  position  of  any 
three  Bishops,  who  might  entertain  for  presentment  the  charges  of  the 
said  memorialists.  These  questions  laid  over  for  a  whole  day,  during 
which  the  propositions  of  the  Bishop  of  "Western  New-York,  respecting 
alterations  in  the  Constitution  of  the  Foreign  and  Domestic  Missionary 


NARRATIVE    OF    EVENTS.  73 

Society,  were  discussed;  and  upon  the  next  morning  a  full  and  free  dis- 
cussion was  had  In  your  presence,  you  yourself  taking  part  in  the  conver- 
sation, in  which  these  points  were  considered  as  combining  the  views  of 
the  House  of  Bishops  : 

1.  That  the  three  Bishops  presenting  occupied  very  much  the  position 
of  a  grand  jury,  who  arc  to  take  care  that  the  evidence  submitted  to  them 
was  such  as  to  make  out  a  'prima  facie  case  against  the  accused. 

2.  That  these  Bishops  should  not  be  considered  justifiable  in  presenting, 
except  upon  the  testimony  of  responsible  persons,  delivered  before  them- 
selves personally,  or  duly  witnessed  before  some  civil  magistrate  qualified 
to  administer  an  oath. 

3.  That  the  acts  charged,  or  if  constituting  a  sequence,  some  of  them  at 
least,  should  come  within  a  period  of  time  not  barred  by  an  equitable  stat- 
ute of  limitations. 

Under  these  circumstances,  and  with  these  views,  wo,  as  your  brethren, 
and  with  the  purpose  of  shielding  you  from  rumors  which  were  deeply 
affecting  your  character,  and  preventing  a  public  exposure  of  you  upon 
ex  parte  evidence,  as  well  as  for  the  protection  of  the  House  of  Bishops 
against  the  imputation  of  refusing  to  listen  to  charges  against  any  one  of 
its  body,  have  been  placed  in  the  painful  position  which  we  now  occupy 
in  relation  to  yourself.  We  can  assure  you  that  we  have  none  other  than 
the  kindest  feelings  towards  you  as  a  man,  and  trust  in  God  that  you  will 
be  enabled  to  answer  to  the  satisfaction  of  the  House  of  Bishops  the 
charges  which  we  shall  feel  bound,  as  things  now  appear,  to  present 
against  you  to  the  Bishops  of  the  Protestant  Episcopal  Church. 

From  your  Pastoral,  you  seem  to  labor  under  another  misapprehension, 
which  we  hasten  to  remove.  And  that  is,  that  there  has  been  any  secrecy 
in  this  matter,  or  any  hunting  after  evidence  on  our  part.  Every  paper 
received  by  us  in  Philadelphia  was  frankly  and  freely  read  by  one  of  our 
number  to  Bishop  Ives,  Dr.  Wainwright,  and  Dr.  Berrian,  with  the  under- 
standing that  their  contents  should  be  communicated  fully  to  yourself,  and 
with  the  promise  which  we  now  perform,  that  no  final  action  should  be 
had  in  this  case,  until  you  and  your  friends  had  been  advised  of  the  same. 
Since  our  arrival  in  New-York,  wo  have  not  been  collecting,  but  receiv- 
ing and  sifting  testimony;  and  by  this  caution  have  been  enabled  to 
clear  up,  satisfactorily  to  ourselves,  one  of  the  most  disagreeable  of  the 
charges  which  had  been  laid  before  us.  We  are  compelled,  however,  to 
state,  that  enough  remains,  as  will  appear  from  the  articles  accompanying 
this  communication,  together  with  the  names  of  the  witnesses,  to  render  it 
incumbent  upon  us  to  lay  the  matter  before  the  House  of  Bishops,  that 
you  may,  God  helping  you,  forever  put  at  rest  these  charges  against  your 
moral  purity,  or  else  receive  humbly  the  punishment  which  may  be  meted 
out  to  you  in  the  premises. 

Wo  sincerely  trust  that  you  will  not  misconceive  our  motives,  nor  mis- 
understand our  course  of  action.  Our  desire  is,  we  repeat  it,  for  your 
sake  and  the  Church's  sake,  to  bring  out  the  truth,  and  nothing  but  the 
truth,  and  to  pray  you  to  help  us  in  it,  that  your  character  may  staud  before 
the  world,  as  that  of  a  Christian  Bishop  should,  blameless  and  spotless. 

We  have  delayed  making  this  communication  until  we  ascertained,  sat- 
isfactorily to  ourselves,  that  it  was  necessary  to  trouble  you  at  all  upon 
this  painful  matter. 

And  now  commending  you  to  God,  we  remain,  very  sincerely  and  affec- 
tionately, Your  brethren  in  the  Episcopate, 

William  Meade,  D.  D., 
Ja.  II.  Otey, 
Stephen  Elliott,  Jr. 


74  NARRATIVE    OF    EVENTS. 


BISHOP     ONDERDONKS      REMARKS. 

The  above  letter  was  accompanied  by  a  document  containing — not 
copies  of  the  affidavits,  which  I  had  particularly  desired  to  see,  and  the 
granting  of  the  request  to  see  which  had  been  guaranteed  by  Bishop 
Elliott's  promise  and  pledge,  but — the  charges  intended  to  be  embodied  in 
the  presentment;  and  a  verbal  message  that  they  would  receive  any  com- 
munication from  me  the  next  morning  at  ten  o'clock* 

This  was  the  only  redemption  of  Bishop  Elliott's  repeated  pledge,  that 
before  the  affidavits  were  used  for  the  purpose  of  presentment,  any  request 
should  be  granted  for  my  friends  and  myself  to  see  or  hear  them,  with 
opportunity  of  offering  to  the  presenters  explanations  or  counter-state- 
ments. My  friends  in  this  city  were  patiently  and  respectfully  waiting, 
in  sure  expectation  of  an  honorable  redemption  of  the  pledge,  when  I 
was  told,  at  ten  o'clock  at  night,  that  we  were  allowed  until  ten  o'clock  the 
next  morning  !  I  need  not  say  how  useless  was  this  offer,  and  how  utter 
the  fallacy  of  any  distinction  that  may  be  imagined  between  the  sending 
of  this  letter  and  document,  and  the  serving  upon  me  at  once  of  the 
presentment. 

Thus  it  appears,  that  although  it  had  been  boastfully  vaunted,  as 
early  as  about  the  middle  of  October,  that  proof  of  guilt  was  in  posses- 
sion sufficient  for  my  official  destruction,  and  was  deposited  with  Bibhop 
Elliott,  with  whom  Bishops  Meade  and  Otey  were  soon  connected,  yet  was 
it  not  until  November  5th  that  I  was  apprized  of  their  readiness  to  pro- 
ceed. Meanwhile,  if  I  am  rightly  informed,  they  gained  no  new  affidavit, 
nor  could  aught  be  found  against  me  for  a  period  more  recent  than  nearly 
two  years  and  a  half.  Ample  opportunity,  however,  had  thus  been  afforded 
to  my  enemies  for  prosecuting  their  designs.  Nor  was  it  unimproved  by 
them.  Every  effort  was  made  to  ruin  me  in  the  estimation  of  the  Church 
and  the  world.  The  most  barefaced  falsehoods  were  circulated  verbally 
and  through  the  press.  Through  the  influence  of  the  latter,  my  character 
and  conduct  were  subjected  to  the  most  scurrilous  abuse  in  all  parts  of 
the  country ;  an  evil  which,  it  is  obvious,  pampering  as  it  does  the  basest 
and  most  malignant,  but  not  on  that  account  the  least  welcome,  passions 
and  affections  of  the  natural  heart,  it  is  hard  and  toilsome  for  virtue  and 
integrity  to  arrest. 

Such  was  the  cruel  treatment  to  which  I  was  subjected  by  the  delays  of 
the  presenters,  and  the  abominable  practices  against  me  which  those  de- 
lays encouraged ;  when,  as  appears  by  the  issue,  their  work  could  have 
been  as  well  done  at  least  a  fortnight  earlier.  No  one  need  be  told  how 
much,  through  press  and  tongue,  a  fortnight  may  accomplish,  in  the  work 
of  evil-speaking,  lying,  and  slandering,  when  an  aggravated  case  is  sought 
to  be  made  out.  and  the  ruin  of  an  obnoxious  individual  is  the  object. — 
Statement  of  Facts,  January,  1845. 


*  At  this  time  two  of  my  presbyters  called  on  the  presenting  Bishops,  and  remonstrated  with 
them  on  the  shortness  of  the  time  allowed.  They  offered  another  day.  So  evident,  however, 
was  their  haste  to  make  up  for  past  delay,  and  indeed  so  incompetent  even  the  additionally 
allowed  time  to  answer  the  purpose  originally  designed  by  my  request  and  Bishop  Elliott's 

promise seeing  that  my  past  ignorance  of  the  particular  charges  had  allowed  me  no  opportunity 

of  preparation— that  the  real  character  of  the  procedure  was  not  thus  materially  altered. 


NARRATIVE    OF    EVENTS.  75 


BISHOP      ONDERDONKS      REPLY      TO      THE      PRESENTERS. 

To  the  Right  Reverend  Bishops  Meade,  Otey,  and  Elliott  : 

Brethren  —  Your  communication  of  yesterday  was  handed  to  me  last 
evening. 

You  are  mistaken  in  supposing  that  in  what  I  say  of  "  plans,  means, 
and  efforts,"  in  my  short  address  to  the  clergy  and  people  of  my  charge 
[see  page  70],  I  had  any  reference  to  yourselves.  I  referred  to  what  I  un- 
derstood to  be  the  movements  of  the  two  clergymen  and  three  laymen  of 
whom  you  speak,  and  of  others  prompted  by' them;  and  especially  the 
plans  and  efforts  for  obtaining  the  presence  and  services  of  the  Rev.  James 
C.  Richmond,  a  brother  who,  for  whatever  erroneous  course  he  may  pur- 
sue, is  probably  more  entitled  to  pity  than  blame  ;  and  who,  I  may  observe 
here,  not  a  month  before  the  meeting  of  the  General  Convention,  had 
called  on  me,  and  expressed  a  warm  desire  to  return  to  my  Diocese,  that 
he  might  stand  by  me  in  my  troubles,  and  be  my  friend.  Whether,  how- 
ever, they  who  make  use  of  such  a  one  are  equally  exempt  from  blame,  I 
leave  to  sound  principle  and  correct  feeling  to  determine. 

In  what  I  say  of  not  being  allowed  to  see  statements  made  against  me, 
I  frankly  confess  that  I  do  refer,  in  part,  to  Bishop  Elliott.  He  had  the 
papers.  He  knew  I  wished  to  see  them.  He  knew  I  asked  to  see  them. 
He  knew  I  desired  an  interview  with  him  respecting  them.  He  refused 
both  to  let  me  see  them,  and  to  converse  with  me  about  them.  I  consider 
what  was  at  length  done  in  reading  them  to  some  of  my  friends  by  no 
means  an  equivalent  to  the  act  of  justice  and  brotherly  regard  which  I 
asked.  It  was  yielded,  as  I  was  told,  not  without  difficulty.  The  like 
was  refused  to  others  of  my  friends  who  earnestly  sought  it ;  and  in  the 
measure  and  mode  in  which  it  was  conceded,  I  was  not  allowed  the  com- 
mon justice  of  selecting  the  friends  to  whom  that  would  be  granted  as  a 
boon  which  was  equitably  due.  I  have  no  fault  to  find  with  the  choice 
which  was  made ;  but  I  contend  that  the  choice  should  have  been  my  own. 
In  this  matter  of  refusing  me  a  sight  or  hearing  of  the  accusations  brought 
against  me,  and  leaving  me  to  gather  a  knowledge  of  them  from  the  im- 
pressions made  on,  and  the  recollections  had  by,  friends  not  of  my  own 
choosing,  Mr.  Trapier,  and  those  associated  with  him,  are  connected  in  my 
mind  with  Bishop  Elliott;  and  I  am  not  aware  in  what  exact  measure 
they  are  respectively  to  be  held  responsible. 

Your  view  of  the  opinions  expressed  by  the  Bishops,  touching  the  true 
character  and  relations  of  presenters,  is,  according  to  my  recollection,  not 
strictly^  accurate.  It  appears  to  me  thac  it  was  generally  understood  that 
presenting  Bishops  sustained  a  position  differing  in  many  important  re- 
spects from  presenters  or  prosecutors  in  civil  or  criminal  courts.  While 
their  relation  to  the  Church  is  that  of  jealous  guardians  of  its  purity,  good 
repute,  and  interests,  they  should  also  sustain  to  the  accused  the  relation 
of  friend  and  brother,  bound  to  him  by  very  near  sympathies,  and  acting 
as  a  shield  and  defence  for  him  against  the  malice  of  the  world,  and  the 
persecutions  of  public  rumor  and  accusation.  Hence  I  certainly  gathered 
it  to  be  the  general  opinion  of  the  Bishops,  that  the  fraternal  relations  be- 
tween the  accused  and  those  who  may  move  in  the  matter  of  his  present- 
ment, were  not  to  be  sacrificed  :  but  that  he  should  expect,  and  they  should 
concede,  all  opportunity  on  his  part  to  place  his  explanations  and  counter- 
statements  in  the  opposite  scale  to  that  in  which  the  assertions  of  his 
accusers  were  cast,  for  such  consideration  as  to  those  his  Episcopal  breth- 
ren may  seem  right  in  the  full  acting  out  of  their  solemn  obligation  so  to 


76  NARRATIVE   OF   EVENTS. 

minister  discipline  as  not  to  forget  mercy,  and  be  so  merciful  as  not  to  be 
too  remiss. 

It  is  a  matter  of  unfeigned  surprise  to  me,  that  in  your  enumeration  of 
the  opinions  of  the  Bishops,  relative  to  the  character,  relations,  and  duties 
of  presenters,  you  should  have  omitted  an  item  of  very  great  importance, 
included  in  Bishop  Elliott's  able  and  clear  remarks  on  the  subject.  I 
allude  to  malicious  motive.  He  emphatically  stated  this  as  a  matter  to  be 
looked  into  before  any  Bishops  should  consent  to  be  presenters.  I  have 
heard  it  spoken  of  by  brother  Bishops  as  evidence  of  his  high,  honorable, 
and  just  principles  and  views.  How  could  you  have  omitted  it  ?  It  neces- 
sarily supposes  an  opportunity  to  the  accused  of  being  heard. 

In  the  present  case,  brethren,  if  the  opportunity  were  given  which 
Bishop  Elliott's  repeated  pledge  was  justly  deemed  to  secure,  I  assume 
that  a  clear  case  of  malicious  motive  may  be  made  out ;  that  other  views 
than  regard  for  the  purity  of  the  Church  may  be  shown  as  lying  at  the 
foundation  of  this  movement ;  and  that  a  well-defined  conspiracy,  not,  it 
is  to  be  feared,  falling  short  of  our  own  house  in  its  comprehensiveness, 
may  be  made  manifest. 

Your  expressions,  brethren,  of  kindness  and  friendship,  are  very  well. 
There  are  a  practical  extent  and  operation,  however,  in  these  virtues,  en- 
forced by  sound  morals  and  Christian  principle,  which  require  something 
more  than  words  as  evidence  of  the  truth  and  sincerity  of  the  profession 
of  them.  Now,  what  evidence  have  I  had  in  reference  to  }rourselves  ?  For 
the  last  few  days  of  my  continuance  in  Philadelphia,  the  conduct  of  each 
of  you  towards  me  was  the  reverse  of  fraternal,  friendly,  or  courteous ; 
and  anything  but  indicative  of  j'our  being  governed  by  the  essentially  just 
maxim  of  esteeming  a  man  innocent  until  he  is  proved  guilty.  It  was 
very  obvious  that  you  had  prejudged  my  case,  and  secretly  pronounced 
me  guilty.  Of  Bishop  Elliott  I  sought  a  brotherly  interview,  which  he 
denied  me.  Since  your  arrival  in  this  city,  not  one  of  you  has  been  near 
me.  You  have  been  among  my  people,  preached  to  them,  to  a  certain  ex- 
tent sought  their  rnoneyfor  your  Dioceses  ;  used  the  sanction  which  myself 
gave  you  for  doing  so  :  and  yet  not  paid  me  the  ordinary  official  courtesy 
of  a  call  at  my  residence.  You  have  had  your  ears  open  to  all  the  gossip 
and  scandal  which  men  reducing  themselves  to  the  low  caste  of  informers 
and  panders  could  seek  out  and  scrape  together  for  the  use  of  my  inveterate 
enemies.  It  being  thus  known  that  there  were  Bishops  here  who  made  it 
their  business  to  receive,  examine,  and  sift,  such  testimony,  has  done  more 
to  bring  public  scandal  on  the  Church  than  all  else  connected  with  this 
business,  and  has  given  an  intensity  of  malignant  effort  to  men  desperately 
set  upon  my  ruin.  You  have  thus  been  the  means  of  creating  the  public 
rumor  which  is,  I  understand,  an  assumed  ground  of  action  for  the  defence 
and  purifying  of  the  Church.  Thus  have  you  contributed  to  make  me,  and 
through  me  our  office,  our  Church,  and  our  religion,  a  scoffing  to  the  pro- 
fane :  and  done  not  a  little  to  aggravate  my  wretchedness,  and  help  the 
purpose  of  my  enemies  to  bring  on  my  ruin.  Contrast  with  all  this  what 
you  say  of  friendly  and  Christian  feelings  towards  me. 

You  speak  of  having  "been  enabled  to  clear  up  satisfactorily  one  of  the 
most  disagreeable  of  the  charges  which  had  been  laid  before"  you.  What 
this  is,  you  say  not.  Report,  before  I  left  Philadelphia,  and  since  I  came 
home,  has  said  that  you  were  in  possession  of  an  affidavit  charging  me 
with  presence  in  a  house  of  ill-fame.  The  report,  as  was  to  be  expected, 
spread  widely.  As  was  also  to  be  expected,  it  swelled  in  character  until 
the  act  was  magnified  into  a  habit.  As  my  friends,  you  were  bound  to  give 
me  at  once  the  name  of  my  false  accuser,  that  he  might  be  summarily 


NARRATIVE   OF   EVENTS.  77 

prosecuted  for  his  villainy.     Is  it  possible  that  this  is  tho  "disagreeable'' 
thing  to  which  you  so  coolly  advert? 

Had  you  allowed  mo  the  opportunity  which  Bishop  Elliott's  plcdgo 
made  my  right,  I  might  have  enabled  you  to  clear  up  other  charges 
against  mo. 

The  subject  of  your  professed  kind  and  friendly  feelings  toward  mc  is 
inseparably  connected  in  my  mind  with  peculiar  circumstances  relating  to 
two  of  your  number.  Of  Bishop  Meade  I  was  asked,  two  or  three  days 
ago,  whether  I  considered  him  my  friend.  The  question  was  put  by  a 
gentleman  who  had  been  in  Virginia,  and  who  said  that  his  doubts  on  the 
subject  were  the  result  of  what  he  had  there  heard,  I  think  from  the 
Bishop  himself.  I  cannot  but  connect  this  with  his  present  position,  and 
particularly  with  his  effort,  at  the  late  General  Convention,  to  get  rid  of 
me,  that  he  might,  in  my  absence,  make  my  character  the  subject  of  re- 
mark among  my  brethren. 

Of  Bishop  Otey,  too,  I  am  compelled  to  speak,  in  this  connection,  though 
with  great  pain.  At  different  times  an  inmate  of  my  family,  much  be- 
loved and  esteemed  by  them,  he  has  not  now  called  to  see  us.  Ho  has 
avoided  all  intercourse  with  me.  He  has,  as  one  of  you,  been  accessible 
to  all  sorts  of  stories  against  me,  and  such  as  he  must  know  my  enemies 
design  to  push  to  my  ruin  and  degradation,  and  to  tho  wretchedness  and 
penury  of  my  family.  He  can  yet  find  it  in  his  heart  to  give  me  no  chance 
of  explanation;  and  still  unite  in  professions  of  brotherly  regard  and 
Christian  kindness. 

Had  Bishop  Elliott's  pledge,  brethren,  been  redeemed  in  its  true  spirit 
and  meaning,  I  could  have  added  various  considerations  not  unmeet  to 
have  been  regarded  by  you  in  connection  with  the  question  of  present- 
ment. So  obvious,  however,  is  it  that  your  minds  are  set,  and  your  deter- 
mination formed,  that  I  cannot  but  regard  such  considerations  as  useless. 
I  leave  the  whole  matter  in  your  hands ;  willing  to  meet  any  investigation 
which  you  may  think  fit  to  institute. 

Deeply  grieved  at  what  I  cannot  but  think  the  unjust  and  ungenerous 
treatment  which  I  havo  received  at  your  hands,  I  still  beg  you  to  be 
assured  of  the  continued  prayers  for  your  individual  welfare,  and  for  a 
blessing  on  your  official  functions,  of 

Your  brother  in  Christ, 

Benjamin  T.  Onderdonk. 

New-York,  November  6,  1844. 

ANSWER    OF     PRESENTERS. 

New-York,  November  9,  1844. 

Right  Reverend  and  Dear  Brother  —  Yours  of  the  sixth  instant,  received 
by  us  on  the  evening  of  tho  eighth,  requires  only  a  few  words  in  reply. 

We  consider  the  promise  made  by  one  of  our  number  in  Philadelphia 
as  fulfilled  in  letter  and  in  spirit  by  our  communication  of  the  fifth  in- 
stant. "We  reiterate  what  we  stated  in  that  communication,  that  we  havo 
acted  throughout  this  whole  matter,  in  a  frank  and  generous  manner  to  you 
and  your  friends,  and  that  there  has  been  no  secrecy,  at  any  moment,  in 
regard  to  our  position,  or  the  evidence  received  by  us.  We  regret  to  per- 
ceive in  your  reply  that  the  motives  of  our  action  are  questioned;  but  in 
this  stage  of  the  business  we  deem  it  inconsistent  with  our  duty  to  enter 
upon  any  discussion  of  that  matter.  "We  trust  that  the  conduct  of  the  trial 
will  be  such  as  to  satisfy  you  that  our  single  desire  is  to  bring  out  the 
truth,  and  nothing  but  the  truth,  and  settle  these  painful  charges  one  way 


78  NARRATIVE   OF   EVENTS. 

or  the  other.     As  the  case  is  now  in  the  hands  of  the  Presiding  Bishop, 
we  must  decline  any  further  correspondence  upon  these  matters. 
Reciprocating  your  prayers  and  good  wishes, 

We  remain  your  brethren  in  the  Church, 

William  Meade, 
James  H.  Otey, 
Stephen  Elliott,  Jr. 


PASTORAL  LETTER  ON  THE  PRESENTMENT. 
To  the  Clergy  and  People  of  My  Spiritual  Charge  : 

Brethren — The  object  of  the  threats  to  which  I  referred  in  my  recent 
letter  to  you,  [see  p.  70]  has  been  in  a  measure  accomplished.  After  several 
weeks  given  to  diligent  hunting  up  of  causes  of  accusation  against  me,  a  few 
specifications,  all  assigned  to  years  gone  by,  have  been  deemed  sufficient 
to  warrant  the  further  and  more  formal  investigation  of  a  trial.  Your 
Bishop,  therefore,  is  now  the  subject  of  a  Canonical  Presentment.*  My 
humble  trust,  through  Christ,  in  Him  of  whom  the  inspired  word  saith, 
"  the  righteous  Lord  loveth  righteousness  :  His  countenance  will  behold 
the  thing  that  is  just,"  affords  me  a  consolation,  support,  and  confidence,  for 
which  I  cannot  be  sufficiently  thankful. 

Never,  dear  brethren,  could  I,  with  clearer  conscience,  and  never  with 
purer  and  more  heartfelt  devotion,  than  now,  minister  among  you.  In  my 
present  position,  however,  an  avoidance  of  public  ministrations  may  be  rea- 
sonably expected.  I  submit.  For  the  present  I  suspend  all  Public  Ser- 
vices. Believe  me,  however,  that  on  that  very  account,  my  prayers  in  your 
behalf  will  be  the  more  frequent  and  earnest.  This  is  a  privilege  and  con- 
solation of  which,  thank  God,  my  enemies  cannot  deprive  me  ;  and  that  I 
shall  be  the  subject  of  your  faithful  fervent  prayers  is  an  assurance  full 
of  comfort  to  the  heart  of  Your  affectionate  Pastor, 

Benj.  T.  Onderdonk, 

New-York,  November  11,  1344.  Bishop  of  New-York. 


VERDICT  OF  MAJORITY  OF  COURT. 

The  undersigned,  being  the  majority  of  the  Court  of  Bishops,  convened  under  the 
authority  of  the  3d  Canon  of  A.  D.  1844,  passed  in  the  General  Convention  of  the 
Protestant  Episcopal  Church  of  the  United  States,  to  try  the  Presentment  addressed  to 
the  Bishops  of  the  said  Church  by  the  Right  Reverend  William  Meade,  Bishop  of  the 
Dioceso  of  Virginia,  the  Right  Reverend  James  Hervey  Otey,  Bishop  of  the  Diocese  of 
Tennessee,  and  the  Right  Reverend  Stephen  Elliott,  Jr.,  Bishop  of  the  Diocese  of 
Georgia,  against  the  Right  Reverend  Benjamin  Tredwell  Onderdonk,  Bishop  of  the 
Diocese  of  New-York— do  hereby  declare  that  the  said  Court,  having  fully  heard  the 
allegations  and  testimony  of  the  parties,  and  deliberately  considered  the  same,  after  the 
parties  had  withdrawn,  did  declare  respectively,  whe  her,  in  their  opinion,  the  accused 
was  guilty  or  not  guilt  v  of  the  charges  and  specifications  contained  in  the  Presentment, 
in  the  order  in  which  they  are  set  forth  ;  and  the  undersigned,  being  a  majority  of  the 
said  ( iourt,  were  thereupon  found  to  have  c  incurred  in  pronouncing  that  the  said  Right 
Reverend  Benjamin  Tredwell  Onderdonk  is  guilty  of  the  first,  the  second,  the  fifth, 
sixth,  seventh,  and  eighth  articles,  containing  the  charges  and  specifications  therein 
expressed  of  the  said  Presentment,  as  by  reference  to  the  same  will  more  fully  appear; 
and  do,  thereupon,  declare,  him  guilty  of  immorality  and  impurity,  as  the  same  is 
charged  in  the  Presentment,  and  set  forth  in  the  said  specifications. 

"  The  Presentment  and  Canonical  summons  to  attend  the  trial  were  served  upon  Bishop  On- 
derdonk on  November  It,  1S-W. 


NARRATIVE   OF    EVENTS.  79 

In  testimony  whereof,  the  said  majority  have  hereunto  Bet  their  hands,  at  t lie 
session  of  the  said  Court,  holder)  in  the  city  of  New-York,  on  the  2d  day  of  January, 
A.  D.  1846. 

I 'll  II..    (MASK,* 

Bishop  of  Illinois,  and  Sen.  Bi  ihop  and  /'/•■■  tdt  nt  of  the  Court. 

Thob.  < '.   Brow  m.i.i., 
Btehop  oj  the  Diocese  of  Co* iiecticut. 

Joirx  II.  Hopkins, 

Bishop  of  the  Diocese  Of  Vermont. 

B.   B.  Smith. 
Bishop  of  tlie  Protestant  Episcopal  Church  i,i  the  Diocese  of  Kentucky. 

ClIA^.    P.     Ml    ll.\    UNK. 

Bishop  of  the  Protestant  Ejnscojxil  Church  in  the  Diocese  of  Ohio. 

Leoxidas  Polk, 

Bishox>  of  the  Diocese  of  Louisiana. 
Alfred  Lee, 

Bishop  of  the  Diocese  of  Delaware. 

John  Johns, 

Assistant  Bishop  of  the  Protestant  Episcopal  Church  in  Virginia. 

Maxtox  Eastburx, 
Bishop  of  the  Diocese  of  Massachusetts. 

J.  P.  K.   HenshAW, 

Hi  .hop  of  Rhode  Island. 

Geo.  W.  Freeman, 
Missionary  Bishop  for  Arkansas,  <See. 

*  The  foundation  of  Bishop  Chase's  hostility  to  Bishop  Onderdonk  has  already  been  pointed 
out  (See  p.  47),  and  it  began  to  bo  manifested  when  Bishop  Chase,  eager  to  become  the  accuser 
of  his  brother,  published  a  pamphlet  charging  Bishop  Onderdonk  with  bringing  alarming  evils 
upon  the  Church,  by  the  ordination  of  the  Rev.  Arthur  Carey.  Bishop  Onderdonk  justly  com- 
plained of  this  censure  of  his  official  acts,  and  demanded  that  Bishop  Chase,  together  with  Bish- 
ops Hopkins  and  Mcllvaine,  who  had  united  as  hi3  accusers  before  the  world,  should  either  virtu- 
ally withdraw  their  charges  or  present  him  for  heresy  (See  p.  54.)  This  latter  alternative 
they  did  not  dare  to  accept ;  but,  as  the  reader  will  have  observed,  they,  in  connection  with 
his  other  enemies,  attained  their  object  by  trying  him,  at  a  subsequent  period,  for  "  immorality 
and  impurity,"  while  they  really  meant  "  Pu3eyism,"  and  "Tracts  for  the  Times."  Bishop 
Chase,  however,  answered  Bishop  Onderdonk's  complaint  and  challenge  in  the  following  extra- 
ordinary manner: 

"I  did  not  think  I  wa3  injuring  yon  personally  or  officially,  when  I  wrote  my  "  Caveats  " 
against  Popery  in  the  pamphlet  alluded  to.  As  to  the  crime  of  blaming  a  Bishop  for  his  official 
acts  (if  it  be  a  crime),  I  had  your  example  to  lead  me  to  it.  When  I  was  in  England  in  1824,  try- 
ing to  obtain  funds  for  an  institution  of  sacred  learning  in  my  then  Diocese  of  Ohio,  you  wrote 
a  much  thicker  pamphlet  against  me,  and  sent  that  pamphlet  across  the  Atlantic,  even  to  Lon- 
don, that  great  city,  wherein  it  was  distributed  with  much  zeal  and  great  numbers  among  the 
Bishops,  and  Lords  of  the  Council,  Universities,  and  clergy,  and  people  at  large,  so  that  if  the 
good  God  had  not  raised  up  friends  who  thought  differently  from  yourself,  in  a  way  almost 
miraculous,  my  cause  would  have  been  ruined,  and  myself  sent  back  in  disgrace.  You  were  then 
a  "  Presbyter,"  and  signed  your  pamphlet  as  such.  You  therein  publicly  attacked  me,  a  Bishop ; 
and  in  no  measured  terms,  held  up  my  conduct  to  public  contempt/ ' — Churchman,  March  9,  1S44. 

To  attempt  to  institute  an  analogy,  as  Bishop  Chase  has  done,  between  his  conduct  and  that  of 
"  Presbyter,"  is,  to  say  the  least,  unfair  and  worthy  of  censure,  even  suppo.-ing  the  Bishop  to  have 
been  ignorant  of  the  fact,  that  Bishop  Onderdonk's  pamphlet  was  written  in  reply  to  an  attack 
made  on  Bishop  Hobart,  by  the  vestry  of  Christ  Church,  Cincinnati,  in  behalf  of  Bishop  Chase, 
Perhaps,  however,  the  analogy  may  be  excused  on  the  ground  that  Bishop  Chase  did  not  see  that 
his  going  to  England  to  collect  funds  was  not  an  Episcopal  act.  As  to  the  merits  of  thU  contro- 
versy, it  should  be  enough  to  say,  that  a  majority  of  the  Bishops  had,  previous  to  the  departure  of 
Bishop  Chase,  expressed  to  him  their  disapprobation  of  his  proposal  to  apply  to  the  English  Church 
for  the  funds  required  to  establish  his  favorite  local  institution  of  learning.  In  addition  to  the 
adverse  opinions  of  Bishops  White,  Hobart,  Mo  re,  Kemp,  Croes,  and  Brownell,  respecting  his 
scheme,  he  was  also  opposed  by  the  Standing  Committee  of  the  General  Theological  Seminary, 
and  the  Board  of  Directors  of  the  Domestic  and  Foreign  Missionary  Society,  both  of  which  bodies 
passed  resolutions  conformable  to  the  views  advanced  by  the  majority  of  the  Bishops  to  whom,  as 
before  intimated,  hj  had  unsuccessfully  applied  for  letters  of  approbation.     And  still  he  went  ! 


80  NARRATIVE   OF   EVENTS. 

BISHOP  OXDERDONK'S  SOLEMN  PROTEST.* 

The  following  paper,  read  by  Bishop  Onderdonk  in  the  Court  of  Bishop?, 
January  3,  1845,  "  offering  his  reasons  in  excuse  or  palliation  of  the  sen- 
tence to  he  passed  ';  upon  him,  though  doubtless  familiar  to  his  old  friends 
will  be  new  to  many  into  whose  hands  this  pamphlet  may  fall  : — 

Right  Reverend  Fathers  and  Brethren — By  the  decision  of  a  majority 
of  your  Right  Reverend  body,I  am  pronounced  "  guilty"  of  several  charges 
■which  have  been  preferred  against  me  ;  and  in  conformity  with  the  Canoni- 
cal provision,  I  am  now  before  you  to  declare  whether  1  have  aught  to  say 
in  excuse  or  palliation. 

Human  courts,  Right  Reverend  Brethren,  can  take  cognizance  only 
of  outward  actions.  It  is  by  these  I  am  to  be  righteously  judged  by  you, 
or  by  any  human  tribunal :  for  God  alone  seeth  the  heart.  The  acts 
laid  to  my  charge  are  declared  by  a  majority  of  your  Court  to  be  proved : 
nor  does  it  now  become  me  to  question  the  truth  of  your  decision — but  in 
excuse,  or  palliation,  I  hereby  protest,  before  this  Court,  and  before  Al- 
mighty God,  my  entire  innocence  of  all  impure  or  unchaste  intention. 

It  is  the  intention,  Right  Reverend  Fathers  and  Brethren,  which  consti- 
tutes guilt  ;  but  it  is  not  every  outward  act  that  interprets  the  inward  in- 
tention. There  are,  indeed,  acts,  such  I  mean  as  adultery,  incest,  fornica- 
tion, which  are  undoubted  proofs  of  indwelling  impurity  ;  and  these  acts 
are  wisely  and  mercifully  defined,  and  forbidden  under  adequate  penalties 
by  human  laws.  Such  acts  are  justly  punished  by  human  tribunals,  be- 
cause they  have  been  previously  defined  and  prohibited;  and  they  are 
safely  punished  by  human  tribunals,  because  they  are  unquestioned  proofs 
of  guilt,  and  may  be  adjudged  so  to  be  without  danger  of  encroaching  on 
the  rights  of  man,  or  the  prerogative  of  God.  But  the  acts  for  which  I 
am  arraigned  before  you  are  not  of  this  description.  They  are  of  a  new 
and  unprecedented  class  for  judicial  cognizance  ;  and  I  further  plead  that 
they  are  not,  necessarily,  proofs  of  impurity,  and  that,  therefore,  they 
are  not  safely  punishable  ;  that  they  are  not  defined  and  forbidden  by  pre- 
script laws,  and  that,  therefore,  they  are  not  justly  punishable  by  any 
human  tribunal. 

As  the  acts  laid  to  my  charge  are  not  of  that  decisive  character  as  to  be 
safe  matters  of  judicial  cognizance,  so  neither  are  they  of  that  number  in 
their  kind  as  to  bo  proofs  of  habitual  impurity.  Habitual  impurity  of 
thought,  such  as  to  condemn  a  man  before  God,  may  exist  without  showing 
itself  in  gross  crimes  ;  yet  surely  it  can  never  be  proved  to  exist  by  six 
or  seven  acts,  not  amounting  to  forbidden  crimes,  separated,  some  of  them, 
by  an  interval  of  one,  two,  or  more  years,  and  extending  altogether  through 
a  space  of  more  than  five  years.  On  this  ground,  I  further  plead  in  excuse 
or  palliation,  that  the  acts  charged  arc  too  few  hi  number  to  constitute  hab- 
itual impurity. 

As  the  acts  laid  to  my  charge  are  few  in  number,  so  are  they  remote  in 
time,  retrograding  from  two  and  a  half  to  seven  and  a  half  years  ago. 
And  though  my  conscience  does  not  upbraid  me  with  impurity  in  the  acts 


*  Bishop  Onderdonk  afterwards  published  the  following,  respecting  this  document,  in  his  State. 
m.ent  of  Facts  : 

"It  has  been  rumored  that  in  my  address  to  the  Court,  between  conviction  and  sentence,  I 
admitted  the  truth  of  the  charges.  The  readers  of  that  document  will,  I  think,  see  that  this  was 
not  the  c:i<r.  If,  u  evident,  from  the  very  object  of  thit  address,  that  It  ought  to  have  been  framed 
on  the  sn/iji  e/'/oi;  of  the  sufficiency  of  the  evidence  fir  the  verdict  which  had  been  found.  This 
is  the  amount  of  th  ■  all  :g  sd  admission.  There  will  al-o  be  found  in  the  address  proof  that  in- 
quiry into  the  evidence  was  only  waived,  not  abandoned." 


NARRATIVE   OF  EVENTS.  81 

alleged,  (the  most  of  which  I  heard  for  the  first  time  in  October  last,  as  al- 
leged to  my  discredit,)  yet  have  1  Long  lived  in  a  state  of  repentance  forall 
my  sins,  known  and  unknown,  and  habitually  sought  forgiveness  for  them 
from  the  mercy  of  God,  for  the  Bake  of  Hi*  Son  .Jesus  Christ.  And  as  no 
act,  for  nearly  two  years  and  a  half,  is  or  can  he  appealed  to,  to  show  the 
insincerity  of  my  repentance,  or  profession  of  repentance,  I  further  plead 
in  excuse  or  palliation,  that  the  acts  charged  on  me  are  too  remote 
In  time  to  convict  mo  of  present  guilt. 

If  suffering  were  an  atonement  for  faults,  I  might  plead  the  anguish  of 
mind  to  which  myself,  my  family,  and,  I  will  add,  my  Diocese,  which 
is  dearer  to  me  than  both,  have  been  subjected  by  interruption  of  my  pas- 
toral labors,  and  the  injuries  and  indignities  to  which,  from  the  first  step 
towards  a  presentment,  I  have  been  constantly  exposed. 

If  the  consciousness  of  human  fallibility,  the  fear  lest,  by  possibility,  the 
innocent  may  be  punished,  should  restrain  the  confidence  or  mitigate  the 
rigor  of  judgment,  I  would  beseech  my  Right  Reverend  Brethren  to 
remember  that  there  is  not,  as  in  most  other  judicatories,  an  appeal  from 
their  decision.  The  sentence  which  you  will  pronounce,  Right  Reverend 
Brethren,  will  lie  reconsidered  by  no  other  court  in  the  Church,  but  is  at 
once  the  first  and  the  last  which  the  existing  laws  of  the  Church  provide. 

As  punishments,  in  all  human  justice,  arc  graduated  to  crimes,  I  re- 
spectfully request  that  the  Court  will  bear  in  mind  these  grounds  of  excuse 
or  palliation,  (if  they  be  accepted  as  such),  in  order  that  they  may  right- 
eously proportion  my  sentence  to  the  offences  of  which,  by  a  majority  of 
their  number,  I  am  convicted. 

Thus  much,  Right  Reverend  Fathers  and  Brethren,  I  have  thought  that 
I  might  say,  consistently  with  Christian  humility,  and  due  respect  for  the 
decision  of  a  majority  of  your  Court.  To  enter  into  a  consideration  of  the 
evidence  on  which  this  decision  is  founded,  and  of  the  influences  which,  in 
my  humble,  though  perhaps  too  partial  judgment,  have  combined  to  pro- 
duce it,  would  bo  neither  respectful  to  you,  nor  consistent  with  the  Canoni- 
cal privilege  which  is  now  awarded  to  me.  On  these  points,  therefore,  I 
am  at  present  silent,  as  in  duty  bound,  and  am  content  to  wait  with  meek- 
ness the  sentence  which  you  are  about  to  pronounce.  That  I  look  forward 
to  this  sentence  with  deep  anxiety,  I  do  not  affect  to  disguise.  But  believe 
me,  Right  Reverend  Fathers  and  Brethren,  my  anxiety  is  not  solely 
for  myself;  but  also  for  the  Church,  and  for  this  Court.  As  respects  me, 
your  decision  is  final  for  this  world,  and  your  power  supreme.  But, 
brethren,  solemnly  protesting  as  I  have  protested,  and  do  now  protest,  be- 
fore Almighty  God  and  this  Court,  my  entire  innocence  of  all  impurity, 
unchasteness,  or  immorality,  in  the  acts  laid  to  my  charge,  and  confiding, 
as  I  firmly  do,  in  the  justice  of  Almighty  God,  and  the  honest  judgment  of 
His  Church,  I  of  course  believe  that  an  unjust  sentence  of  this  Court  will 
neither  be  ratified  in  Heaven,  nor  sustained  on  earth,  after  the  light  of  rea- 
son and  truth  shall  have  dispelled,  as  it  surely  will  dispel,  the  mists  of  pre- 
judice and  passion.  That  the  sentence  which  my  Right  Reverend  Breth- 
ren are  now  to  pronounce  on  the  most  umvorthy  of  their  number  may  not 
alienate  from  our  body  the  confidence  of  the  Church,  and  plunge  her  into 
irretrievable  distraction,  may  God.  of  Hi3  infinite  mercy,  grant  through 
Jesus  Christ. 


ACTUAL  VOTES  OF  THE  COURT 


First  Scrutiny. 


1.  The  Bishop  of  Illinois (P.  Chase.)         Bishop  of  Illinois :  Deposition. 


2.  The  Bishop  op  Connecticut (Brownell.) 


3.  The  Bishop  of  North  Carolina (Ives.) 


Bp.  of  Connecticut : 

Let  the  Respondent  be  Suspended. 


4.  The  Bishop  of  Vermont (Hopkins.) 


5.  The  Bisnop  of  Kentucky (Smith.) 


I  have  declared  by  my  vote  that  I  consider 
the  Rt.  Rev.  B,  T.  Onderdonk,  Bishop  of  New- 
York,  not  guilty  of  the  charges  alleged  in  the 
Presentment ;  but,  as  I  am  called  upon  by  the 
Canon  for  my  sentence,  I  hereby  pronounce  that 
he  receive  as  slight  an  admonition  as  the  Canon 
will  admit, 

L.  Silliman  Ives, 

Bp.  of  JVo.  Ca. 


Deposition. 


John  H.  Hopkins, 

Bishop  of  Vermont. 


Let  him  be  suspended. 


B.  B.  Smith, 
Bp.  of  the  P.  E.  Ch.  in  the  Dio.  of  Ry. 


6.  The  Bishop  of  Ohio (Mcllvaine.) 


Bishop  of  Ohio :  Deposition. 


7.  The  Bishop  of  New-Jersey (Doane.) 


I  have  declared  the  Respondent  not  guilty, 
and  so  believe  him ;  but,  as  a  majority  of  the 
Court  have  decided  otherwise,  and  sentence 
must  be  passed,  mine  is  : 

Let  him  receive  the  lightest  admonition  con- 
templated by  the  Canon. 

Gr.    W.   DOANE, 

Bishop  of  New- Jersey. 


S.  The  Bishop  of  the   North  Western  Mis- 
sionary Diocese (Kemper.) 


Admonition. 

Jackson  Kempee. 


3  Jan.,  1845. 


9.  The  Bishop  of  Louisiana (Polk.) 


The  Bp.  of  Louisiana  votes  for 
Deposition. 


10.  The  Bishop  of  Western  New- York. 

(De  Lancey.) 


Admonition. 


W.  H.  De  Lancey. 


11.  The  Bishop  of  South  Carolina. .(Gadsden.) 


Inasmuch  as  the  Canon  seems  to  make  it  ne- 
cessary that  some  penalty  should  be  awarded, 
the  Bishop  of  South  Carolina  is  in  favor  of 

Admonition. 


12.  The  Bishop  of  Maryland..  (Whittiugham.) 


My  sentence  is  for  the  lightest  degree  of 
Admonition. 

William  Rolllnson  Whtttingham, 

Bishop  of  Maryland. 


13.  The  Bishop  of  Delaware (A.  Lee.) 


Deposition. 


Alfred  Lee. 


14.  The  Assistant  Bishop  of  Virginia.  (Johns.) 


For  Deposition. 


J.  Johns. 


15.  The  Bishop  of  Massachusetts... (Eastburn.) 


Deposition. 


M.  Eastburn. 


10.  The  Bishop  of  Rhode  Island... (Henshaw.) 


Let  him  be  deposed. 


J.  P.  K.  Henshaw. 


17.  The   Bishop  of  the    South   Western  Mis- 
sionary Diocese (Freeman.) 


Let  him  be  suspended. 

Geo.  W.  Freeman. 

Miss'y  Bp.  of  Arkansas. 


UPON    THE    SENTENCK. 


Second  Scrutiny. 

Third  Scrutiny. 

1  >■  position.                                 Up.  oi"  Illinois. 

Bp.  of  Illinois  :                              Dej>osition. 

Bp.  of  Connecticut : 

Suspension. 

Bp.  of  Connecticut: 

Suspension. 

Admonition. 

L.   SlLLIMAN  I\  l     , 

Dp.  of  No.  Ca. 

Suspension,  to  ward  off  Deposition. 

L.  Silliman  Ives, 

lip.  of  No.  Ca. 

Deposition. 

John  II.  Hopkins, 

Bishop  of  Vermont. 

Deposition. 

John  H.  Hopkins', 

Bishop  of  Vermont. 

Under  the  conviction  that  the  effect  of  convic- 
tion most  be  forever  to  destroy  the  usefulness  of 
the  Respondent,  I  accede  to  the  vote  of  those  who 
are  in  favor  of  Deposition. 

B.  B  Smith, 
Bp.  of  the  P.  E.  Ch.  in  the  Dio.  of  Ky. 

Deposition. 

B.  B.  Smith, 
Bp.  of  the  P.  E.  Ch.  in  the  Dio.  of  Ky. 

Bp  of  Ohio : 

Deposition. 

Bp.  of  Ohio  : 

Deposition. 

Admonition. 

G.  W.  Doane. 

There  being  twice  a  failure  to  unite  in  any 
sentence,  I  accede  to  Suspension. 

G.  "W.  Doane 

Admonition. 

Jackson  Kemper. 

Kemper  : 

Suspension. 

Bp.  of  Louisiana : 

Deposition. 

Bp.  Louisiana  : 

Deposition. 

Slight  admonition. 

W.  H.  De  Lancet. 

Suspension. 

W.  H.  De  Lancet. 

I  accede  to  Suspension. 

Bp.  of  the  Diocese  of  South  Carolina. 

3d  Vote : 

I  accede  to  Suspension. 

Bp.  So.  Carolina. 

My  sentence  is  for  admonition,  but  perceiving 
that  there  is  no  hope  of  securing  a  majority  of 
votes  for  that,  I  accede  to  the  sentence  of  Suspen- 
sion. 

William  Rollinson  Whtttlngham, 

Bishop  of  Maryland. 

My  sentence  is  for  admonition,  but  in  the 
conviction  that  a  majority  will  not  be  given  for 
that  sentence,  I  accede  to  the  sentence  of  Sus- 
pension. 

William  Rollinson  Whtttlngham, 

Bishop  of  Maryland. 

2d  Voting  : 

Suspension. 

Alfred  Lee. 

Deposition. 

Alfred  Lei:. 

For  Deposition. 

J.  Johns. 

For  Deposition. 

J.  Johns. 

Suspension. 

M.  Eastiutjn. 

Deposition. 

Manton  Eastburn. 

Deposition. 

J.  P.  K.  HENsn.vw. 

Suspension. 

J.  P.  K.  Henshaw. 

Let  him  be  suspended. 

Suspension. 

Geo.  W.  Freeman.     ( 


G.  W.  F. 


84 


NARRATIVE   OF    EVENTS. 


ANALYSIS  OF  THE  VOTES. 

"  After  an  entire  failure,  a  complete  rout  of  all  the  efforts  of  the  Puritanical  clique,  both  in  the 
New- York  Convention  and  in  the  General  Convention,  and  when,  by  Buch  failure,  Bishop  Onder- 
donk's  course  had  finally  been  virtually  approved,  one  last  desperate  effort  was  made,  and  the  of- 
fending member  cut  off,  by  the  very  votes  of  some  who  had  openly  arraigned  and  denounced  his 
conduct  in  the  Ordination  of  Mr.  Carey." — Voice  of  Truth,  _Vo.  V.,  p.  7. 


Bishops. 

Opposed  to 
the  Bishop 

First 
Scrutiny. 

Second 
Scrutiny. 

Third 
Scrutiny. 

Personally  and 

doctrinally. 
Doctrinally. 

Deposition. 

Suspension. 
Admonition. 

Deposition. 

Suspension. 

Deposition. 

Admonition. 

Admonition. 

Deposition. 

Admonition. 

Admonition. 

Admonition. 

Deposition. 

Deposition. 

Deposition. 

Deposition. 

Suspension. 

Deposition. 

Suspension. 
Admonition. 

Deposition. 

Deposition. 

Deposition. 

Admonition. 

Admonition. 

Deposition. 

Admonition. 

Suspension. 

Suspension. 

Suspension. 

Deposition. 

Suspension. 

Deposition. 

Suspension. 

Deposition. 

2.  Connecticut 

Suspension. 

Suspension. 
Deposition. 
Deposition. 
Deposition. 

Personally  and 
doctrinally. 

Doctrinally. 

Personally  and 
doctrinally. 

6.  Ohio 

Suspension. 

Suspension. 

9.  Louisiana 

Doctrinally. 

Deposition. 
Suspension. 
Suspension. 

10.  W.  New- York 

11.  South   Carolina.... 

Suspension. 

14.  Assistant  Virginia. 
IT.  Southwest 

Doctrinally. 
Doctrinally. 
Doctrinally. 
Doctrinally. 
Doctrinally. 

Deposition. 
Deposition. 
Deposition. 

Suspension. 
Suspension. 

6 
3 

8 

4 
6 

7 

0 

9 

8 

PBESKSTISG    BISHOPS. 

Meade  of  Virginia,  doctrinally.  Otet,  of  Tennessee,  doctrinally. 

Elxiott,  of  Georgia,  doctrinally. 


ABSENT    BISHOPS, 


McCoskrt,  of  Michigan. 
Chase,  of  New-Hampshire. 


Cobbs,  of  Alabama. 
Hawks,  of  Missouri. 


The  following  remarks  upon  the  voters  appeared  in  an  editorial  in  The 
Churchman's  Newspaper,  published  in  London,  February  18th,  1845  : 

"  At  least  six  of  the  judges  should  not,  from  what  we  understand, have  sat 
upon  that  bench  to  condemn  their  brother.  Three*  of  them,  if  they  had  fol- 
lowed the  usage  of  civil  or  military  courts,  would  have  declined  to  act ; 
and  all  were  fit  subjects  for  challenge,  if  challenge  had  been  allowed. 
Those  three  stood  before  the  Church  as  his  accusers  on  another  matter, 
each  also  having  his  private  griefs  to  sway  him.  Of  the  other  three,  one 
was  absent  while  nearly  all  of  the  testimony  for  the  defence  was  submit- 
ted;! one  is  the  assistant  and  expected  successor  of  the  Bishop  who 
headed  the  prosecution,^  and  one  could  enter  upon  the  records  of  the 
Court  an  argument  for  a  lighter  punishment,  and  vote  twice  for  the  high- 
est.^" 


*  Bishops  Mcllvaine,  Philander  Chase,  and  Hopkins. 
t  Bishop  Johns,  Assistant  of  Bishop  Meade. 


t  Bishop  Brownell. 
5  Bishop  Smith. 


NARRATIVE    OF    EVENTS.  85 

BISHOP  DOANE  ON  THE  VOTE  FOR  ADMONITION'. 

The  undersigned  has  declared  his  "opinion"  that  the  Respondent  in  this 
caso  is  not  guilty  of  "immorality  and  impurity,"  as  charged  in  the  Present- 
ment. Ho  holds  to  that  conviction.  A  majority  of  the  Court,  however, 
have  declared  that,  in  their  "opinion,"  he  is  "guilty;"  and  by  the  Canon, 
"the  Court,"  of  which  tho  undersigned  is  one,  must,  now  "pass  sentence, 
and  award  tho  penalty  of  admonition,  suspension,  or  deposition."  The 
undersigned,  and  those  who  agreed  with  him  in  "opinion,"  must  withhold 
themselves  from  the  further  action  of  "tho  Court,"  and  so  expose  the  Re- 
spondent, who,  in  their  "opinion,"  is  not  guilty,  to  the  highest,  scntenco 
which  tho  Canon  knows;  or  else  they  must  unite  in  consenting  to  a  lower 
sentenco  on  one,  who,  in  their  opinion,  is  deserving  of  none.  Between 
these  two,  tho  undersigned  does  not  permit  himself  to  hesitate.  ^Deposi- 
tion," by  tho  present  Canonical  provisions  of  this  Church,  is  irrevocable. 
Should  such  ho  tho  decision  of  a  majority  of  this  Court,  not  only  the  Re- 
spondent, but  themselves  would  bo  cutoff  from  any  future  beneficial  action. 
The  undersigned  is  bound  in  conscience,  so  far  as  in  him  lies,  to  avert  a 
result  so  unjust  and  so  unhappy.  Therefore,  although  he  has  voted  that 
the  Respondent  is  "not  guilty,7'"  and  still  believes  him  so,  his  "sentence"  is, 
that  he  receive  the  lightest  "admonition"  permitted  by  the  Canon. 

G.  W.  Doane, 

Bishop  of  New-Jersey. 

ON      THE      VOTE      FOR      SUSPENSION. 

The  Court  having  failed,  in  two  several  scrutinies,  to  "pass  sentence" 
on  the  Respondent,  by  a  majority  of  their  votes;  the  undersigned  now  con- 
sents to  "  suspension,"  to  avoid  "  deposition." 

G.  W.  Doane, 

Bishop  of  New-Jersey. 


DR.  SEABURY  ON  THE  SENTENCE. 

The  subjoined  extracts  are  from  a  sermon  by  the  Rev.  Samuel  Seabury, 
D.  D.,  in  reference  to  the  trial  of  the  Right  Rev.  Bishop  Onderdonk,  D.  D., 
Bishop  of  the  Diocese  of  New-York,  preached  in  the  Church  of  the  Annun- 
ciation, on  Sunday,  January  5th,  1845. 

"  I  was  dumb  with  silence:  I  held  my  peace,  even  from  good  ;  and  my  sorrow  w.i*  stirred." 

Ps.  xxx  ix.  2. 

About  two  months  have  passed  since,  under  one  of  those  instructive 
figures  which  the  Sacred  History  furnishes,  I  alluded  to  the  fortunes  of  the 
Bishop  of  this  Diocese,  as  one  who,  as*I  verily  believed,  was  assailed  by 
enemies,  for  no  better  reason  than  because  an  excellent  spirit  was  in  him. 
The  presentment  which  was  then  brought  against  him,  appeared  to  me  to 
be  the  last  of  a  series  of  party  measures,  and  I  had  little  doubt  that,  like 
previous  measures  of  the  same  sort,  it  would  fail,  and  recoil  on  tho  heads 
of  the  agents.  I  held  my  Bishop  to  be  innocent  of  the  charges  brought 
against  him;  and  I  hoped  that  the  good  providence  of  God  would  make 
his  innocence  manifest  to  tho  world  Indeed,  I  then  doubted  whether  the 
Court  which  was  convened,  would  even  enter  upon  the  investigation 
which  is  now  concluded.  For  I  said  to  myself,  and  wiser  and  better  men 
than  I  said  tho  same,  Here  is  a  charge  brought  against  my  Bishop  of  im- 


8G  NARRATIVE   OF   EVENTS. 

morality;  a  charge  that  he  is  now  an  immokal  man,  unworthy  of  his 
office  ;  and  this  charge  is  attempted  to  ho  supported  hy  a  few  specified  acts — 
I  believe  six  in  number — the  latest  of  which  is  alleged  to  have  occurred 
two  years  and  a  half,  and  the  first  nearly  eight  years  ago.  Not  one  of 
these  acts  was  a  crime  such  as  is  properly  cognizable  iu  human  courts :  all 
were  at  the  worst  such  offences  against  the  decencies  and  manners  of  life 
as  society  is  sufficiently  shielded  against  by  private  expressions  of  displea- 
sure, and  the  established  rules  of  social  intercourse.  On  the  supposition 
that  they  flowed  from  a  wrong  motive,  and  so  were  sinful  in  the  eye  of 
God,  they  were,  as  it  seemed  to  me,  too  few  in  number  to  prove  a  habit  of 
sin,  and  too  remote  in  time  to  sustain  the  charge  of  present  immorality. 
And  I  therefore  argued  that  the  Court,  looking  only  at  the  face  of  the 
presentment,  and  Avithout  going  at  all  into  the  investigation  of  the  facts, 
might  equitably  dismiss  the  matter  on  the  ground  that  the  facts  alleged, 
even  if  true,  failed  to  support  the  charge.  Or,  if  the  investigation  were 
made,  and  the  specifications  proved,  I  still  did  not  believe  that  the  charge 
would  be  held  to  be  sustained.  Or,  at  the  worst,  sujmosing  the  facts  to  be 
proved,  and  the  charge  sustained,  I  confess  I  did  think  that  the  immorality 
now  believed  to  attach  to  the  accused  in  consecmence  of  acts  so  few  in 
number,  and  so  remote  in  time,  would  be  regarded  as  meriting  only  the 
slightest  form  of  punishment  which  the  Canons  provide.  An  admonition, 
or  a  short  suspension,  such  as  would  allow  time  for  a  retreat  from  the 
absorbing  cares  and  distractions  of  the  Episcopal  office, in  order  to  a  severe 
examination  of  conscience,  and  a  new  and  holier  preparation  for  the  faithful 
discharge  of  its  duties,  seemed  to  me  to  be  the  extremest  senteucc  which, 
in  the  worst  view  of  the  case,  the  Court  would  pronounce.  Aware  how 
prone  the  minds  of  men  are,  in  times  of  excitement,  to  bo  warped  by  the 
prejudices  and  heat  of  party  animosities,  and  knowing  that  between  a  large 
portion  of  the  Court  and  the  accused  there  was  neither  personal  nor  party 
sympathy,  but  strong  points  of  personal  and  theological  repulsion;  and 
aware  also  of  the  powerful  pressure  from  without  of  a  public  opinion  formed 
on  principles  adverse  to  the  Church,  and  fearing  that  other  members  of  the 
Court  were  not  so  far  above  human  infirmity  as  to  bo  independent  of  such 
influences,  the  thought  of  deposition  did  occasionally  cross  my  mind.  But 
I  could  not  believe  that  such  a  sentence  would  be  seriously  contemplated. 
For  it  seemed  to  me  to  be  an  obvious  dictate  of  justice,  that  there  should 
be  some  proportion  between  punishment  and  crime;  and  a  dictate  of 
wisdom  also,  for  surely  it  must  greatly  discourage,  if  not  utterly  blast,  the 
virtue  of  penitent  and  ingenuous  confession,  and  lead  to  studied  dissimu- 
lation and  hypocrisy,  if  offences  comparatively  (and  only  comparatively, 
for  all  sin  is  hateful  in  the  eye  of  God)  light,  should  be  visited  with  the 
extremest  rigors  which  the  Canons  provide.  And  besides,  I  supposed  that 
degradation — a  sentence  which  should  never  be  contemplated  save  in  those 
cases  of  aggravated  crime  which  forbid  all  reasonable  hope  of  clear  and 
lasting  repentance  and  restoration  to  usefulness,  which  would  blast  the 
prospects  of  the  accused  for  life,  and  overwhelm  himself  and  his  family 
with  dismay,  anguish,  and  desolation — would  be  avoided  by  those  members 
of  the  Court  who  had  the  least  sympathy  with  the  accused,  if  not  from  con- 
siderations of  justice  and  wisdom,  at  least  from  considerations  of  prudence, 
since  such  a  sentence  could  bo  reasonably  viewed  in  no  other  light  than 
as  the  evidence  of  a  proscriptive  and  vindictive  temper.  Such,  I  say,  were 
the  honest  expectations  witli  which  I  awaited  the  approach  and  termina- 
tion of  this  trial.  As  the  trial  went  forward,  all  that  I  had  heard  about 
the  testimony  of  the  witnesses  went  to  excite  my  hopes  for  the  best;  all 
that  I  heard  about  the  temper  of  the  Court  went  to  excite  my  fears  for  the 
worst.     But  throughout  the  whole  I  have  abstained  from  public  comment. 


NAEBATIVE   01   EVENTS.  87 

f'lheld  my  tongue,  and  spake  nothing;  I  kept  silence,  even  from  good 
words,"  though  "my  sorrow  was  stirred." 

But  the  trial  is  now  ended;  and  the  result  is  that  our  Bishop  is  adjudged 
Guilty  by  a  majority  of  the  Court;  and  that  while  eight  of  its  members 
voted,  on  one  ballot,  for  degradation,  a  majority  concurred,  on  ;i  third  bal- 
loting, in  the  sentence  of  suspension — unlimited,  indefinite  suspension — not 
only  from  his  Episcopal  office,  but  also  from  the  exercise  of  his  Ministry. 
I  shall  read  tbo  sentence,  as  I  find  it  already,  and  for  the  first  time,  in  a 
newspaper. 

OFIl<    I A  I,     SENTENCE     IN     THE     CASE     OF     BISHOP    ONDERDONK. 

The  Court  of  Bishops  of  the   Protestant  Episcopal  Church,   convened  under  the 
authority  of  Canon  III.  of  1844  of  the  General  Convention  of  said  Church,  for  the  trial 


_,  upon 

certain  charge !  and  specifications  in  said  presentment  set  forth  ;  having  fully  heard  the 
allegations  and  testimony  of  the  parties,  and  deliberately  considered  the  same,  and 
a  majority  of  the  said  Court  having  declared,  that  in  their  opinion  the  accused  is  guilty 
of  certain  of  the  charges  and  specifications  contained  in  the  presentment ;  which  decla- 
ration of  a  majority  of  the  Court  has  been  reduced  to  writing,  and  signed  l.v  1  hose  who 
assented  thereto,  and  has  been  pronounced  in  the  presence  of  the  parties;  and  the  Court 
having  proceeded,  after  hearing  the  accused,  to  pass  sentence  upon  the  accused,  in  con- 
formity with  the  provisions  of  said  Canon  ;  and  having  determined  that  the  penalty  to 
be  affixed  and  pronounced  in  said  case  shall  be  that  of  Suspension, — 


ispended  L  - 

Episcopal  and  ministerial  functions;  and  do  order  that  the  notice  of  this  sentence, 
required  by  said  Canon,  he  communicated  by  the  Presiding  Bishop,  uuder  his  hand  and 
seal,  to  the  ecclesiastical  authority  of  every  "Diocese  of  this  Church. 

Given  under  my  hand  and  seal  this  the  third 
[seal.]  day  of  January,  A.  D.  1845. 

Philander  Chase, 
Senior  Bishop,  and  President  of  the  Court. 

Brethren,  I  bow  to  the  decision  of  the  Court !  With  my  confidence  in 
the  purity  of  the  man  unshaken,  I  bow  to  the  decision  which  suspends  the 
Bishop.  With  a  firm  belief  that  the  verdict  of  this  Court,  which  adjudges 
the  Bishop  to  be  guilty,  will  be  reversed  at  the  tribunal  of  God,  and  by  the 
calm  and  deliberate  judgment  of  the  Church,  I  submit  to  a  result  brought 
about  in  conformity  with  her  Canonical  provisions.  I  offer  no  resistance, 
I  make  no  complaints,  I  harbor  no  revenge  against  the  instruments  who 
have  accomplished  this  result.  Saving  to  n^self  my  own  right  of  opinion 
— my  own  right  to  repose  confidence  in  what  man  soever  I  please — my 
own  right,  in  all  proper  ways,  to  labor  in  vindication  and  support  of  one 
who  (God  be  praised  for  this  signal  mercy)  is  my  Bishop  still,  and  having 
an  eye  only  to  the  outward  Court,  I  bow  to  this  decision;  and  I  ask  you  to 
look  it  fully  and  fairly  in  the  face;  and  reflect  on  your  responsibility  to 
God,1iow  you  ought  to  feel,  and  what  you  ought  to  do. 

It  is  told  of  Socrates.  I  believe,  that  while  he  was  in  prison,  under  sen- 
tence of  death  by  a  frenzied  multitude,  his  friends  provided  for  him  a  way 
of  escape,  and  that  he  refused  to  avail  himself  of  it,  but  preferred  to  remain 
and  drink  the  hemlock  in  obedience  to  the  law.  It  is  said  of  Fenelon  that 
he  read  from  the  pulpit,  and  declared  his  concurrence  in,  the  sentence  of 
the  Pope  who  condemned  his  book.  And  we  all  know  the  story  of  the 
martyr  Laud,  who  was  condemned,  with  the  formalities  of  justice,  by  a 


88  NARRATIVE   OF   EVENTS. 

bigoted  Puritanical  faction,  and  cheerfully  bared  bis  neck  to  the  axe  of 
the  executioner.  Socrates  was  not  guilty  of  the  crime  imputed  to  him. 
but  he  submitted  to  his  sentence  as  if  he  were  guilty.  Fenelon  did  not 
believe  his  book  to  be  erroneous,  but  he  treated  it  as  if  it  were  erroneous. 
Laud  did  not  believe  his  sentence  to  be  just,  but  he  prayed  for  his  judges, 
blessed  his  executioner,  and  composed  his  mind,  and  laid  his  head  on  the 
block  as  cheerfully  as  if  his  sentence  were  just :  and  in  fact  far  more  cheer- 
fully than  he  could  have  done  if  the  sentence  had  been  just.  So  in  relation 
to  our  Bishop.  I  believe  tbat  he  is  not  guilty,  but  I  am  willing  to  conform 
to  the  sentence,  as  if  he  were  guilty.  I  submit  to  the  deprivation  of  Epis- 
copal services  as  long  as  the  deprivation  lasts. 

********  * 

It  is  a  confessed  rule  that  the  authority  of  an  Ecclesiastical  Council,  con- 
sidered as  influencing  private  judgment,  should  be  estimated  by  the  char- 
acter of  its  individual  members,  the  influences  under  which  they  assemble 
and  pursue  their  deliberations,  the  animus  apparent  in  their  proceedings, 
and  by  the  reception  accorded  to  their  decision  by  the  collective  Church, 
after  its  grounds  shall  have  been  fully  scrutinized.  I  am  not  inwardly 
bound,  therefore,  by  the  decision  of  this  Court;  I  am  not  bound  by  any 
Church  principle  to  conform  my  opinion  to  its  judgment,  but  am  free  to 
think  and  to  say,  as  I  do  think  and  say,  that  it  deserves  not  the  weight  of  a 
feather. 


THE  "  BANNER  OF  THE  CROSS"  ASSERTS  THE  ENTIRE  INNOCENCE  OF 
THE  BISHOP. 

We  commend  to  the  notice  of  the  present  editor  of  the  Banner  of  the 
Cross  the  following  paragraph,  which  appeared  editorially  in  that  paper 
in  1845.  If  he  had  been  so  fortunate  as  to  have  seen  this  before  penning  a 
recent  article,  ungenerously  reflecting  upon  the  Bishop,  it  might  have  saved 
his  readers  the  surprise  and  mortification  produced  by  the  perusal  of  senti- 
ments so  foreign  to  the  views  of  his  predecessors — the  Banner  having  here- 
tofore been  a  staunch  defender  of  the  persecuted  prelate: 

"  Since  the  final  adjournment  of  the  Court,  we  have  had  particular  and 
authentic  information  as  to  its  proceedings;  and  the  result  is  our  present 
discharge  of  what  we  feel  to  be  a  high  and  solemn  duty  before  God  and 
the  world,  in  calmly  and  deliberately  proclaiming  our  thorough  conviction 
of  the  entire  innocence  of  Bishop  Onderdonk.  We  say  this  with  a  full 
knowledge  of  all  that  is  implied  in  it  — with  a  just  sense  of  the  responsibil- 
ity we  thus  incur — and  with  all  due  respect  and  reverence  for  the  major- 
ity of  the  Ecclesiastical  Court.  But  we  cannot  hesitate  a  moment  as  to 
what  the  cause  of  truth  and  righteousness  requires  of  us :  and,  whatever 
may  bo  the  consequences,  sooner  would  we  lay  down  our  life  than  listen 
to  that  prudent  policy  which  advises  us  to  suspend  our  opinion.  No;  we 
have  '  suspended'  the  expression  of  that  opinion  long  enough ;  satisfied  we 
were,  from  the  beginning,  that  such  frivolous  and  unjust  charges  as  were 
made  the  basis  of  the  'presentment'  would  never  have  been  dreamed  of, 
had  it  not  been  for  the  Ecclesiastical  events  of  the  last  two  years ;  and  were 
we  still  to  'hold  our  peace' when  we  see  the  Bishop  the  temporary  victim 
Of  those  who  saw  fit  to  maintain  a  profound  silence,  year  after  year,  until, 
as  their  organ  and  leader  (Col.  Webb,  of  the  New  York  Courier  and  En- 


NAItRATIVi:   OP    EVENTS.  89 

quirer)  had  the  strange  candor  to  avow  it,  they  had 'arrived  at  tho  conclu- 
sion that  the  moment  was  auspicious3 — 'the  very  stones  would  Immediately 

cry  out  against  us.'   " 


THE  "BUFFALO  COMMERCIAL  ADVERTISER"  ON  THE  TRIAL. 

In  arriving  at  a  conclusion  to  my  strictures  on  tho  evidence  of  the 
various  charges  against  tho  Right  Reverend  Bishop  Onderdonk,  of  New- 
York,  I  am  conscious  of  having  passed  silently  over  much  which  would 
farther  tend  to  cast  the  whole  affair  into  ridicule;  but  the  results  are  of 
too  serious  a  nature  to  depart  for  a  moment  from  the  great  object,  in  band 
— that  of  proving  the  Bishop  innocent,  and  his  opponents  to  be  the  tools 
and  front  of  a  deep-laid  conspiracy,  to  succeed  in  which  they  have  sacri- 
ficed modesty,  virtue,  honor,  and  truth. 

There  is  ample  evidence  to  show,  that  all  the  charges,  though  occurring 
in  different  places  and  different  periods,  are  closely  allied,  not  through  tho 
women,  but  through  their  husbands  and  coadjutors.  There  is  evidence  of 
these  charges  being  nursed,  from  time  to  time,  until  the  "propitious"  day 
should  arrive  when  they  could  pounce  on  their  victim,  as  the  tiger  on  his 
prey.  What  virtue,  what  station,  what  intellect,  could  resist  such  sys- 
tematic schemes  of  destruction  ?  And  were  three  avowed  enemies,  of  the 
Bench  of  Bishops,  all  men  of  ability,  not  sufficient  to  taint  the  minds  of 
all  the  other  Bishops,  united  together  in  Low  Church  principles  ?  It  cer- 
tainly proved  sufficient.  Mr.  Graham  in  his  defence  as  Bishop's  counsel, 
while  advancing  strong  and  substantial  reasons  for  his  client's  acquittal, 
shows,  in  every  line  of  his  argument,  that  he  knew  how  vain  were  all  his 
truths  and  efforts,  for  he  evidently  felt  that  he  was  speaking  in  favor  of  a 
prejudiced  man,  and  to  a  Court  whose  prejudices  were  so  deeply  implanted 
in  thoni  as  not  to  be  shaken  by  any  appeal  of  either  truth  or  mercy. 

We  cannot  be  too  grateful  to  those  Bishops  who  decided  that  Bishop 
Onderdonk  was  innocent,  for  a  difference  of  opinion  in  Court  encourages 
public  discussion  on  the  merits  of  the  charges  ;  and  we  should  thank  the 
convicting  Bishops  for  publishing  the  evidence,  as,  by  doing  so,  they  unwit- 
tingly gave  us  the  tools  with  which  to  expose  either  the  weakness  of  their 
heads  or  the  lurking  sin  of  their  hearts ;  and  I  cannot  help  believing  that 
the  greatest  slip  in  their  proceedings  was  this  publication.  That  a  major- 
ity of  unthinking  people  Avould,  on  the  first  perusal  of  these  nauseous 
pages,  decide  the  Bishop  to  be  a  very  bad  man,  is  true ;  they  foresaw 
that;  but,  after  a  time,  different  heads  exchange  sentiments  on  the  sub- 
ject, until,  by  and  by,  the  whole  public  not  wickedly  prejudiced,  will 
build  around  the  venerable  Prelate  a  bulwark  of  public  favor,  which  will 
awe  his  enemies  into  doing  him  the  only  justice  now  in  their  power. 

Sad  as  tho  consequences  of  this  terrible  decision  is,  it  would  be  more 
awful  still,  should  tho  Bishop  desert  the  cause  of  the  rights  of  man,  so  far 
as  to  resign  his  office.  May  God  give  him  courage  to  maintain  his  ground, 
and  may  ho  never  forget  that  his  resignation  would  be  the  first  knell  of 
departing  freedom  from  the  inhabitants  of  the  most  promising  Republic 
of  the  world;  and,  whatever  his  injured  feelings  may  be,  let  him,  by 
adhering  to  his  Diocese  as  their  Bishop,  pay  beforehand  that  public,  who 
will,  ere  long,  do  him  most  ample  justice ! 

To  see  a  great  man.  who  has  spent  his  whole  life  for  others,  crushed 
unjustly;  to  think  of  the  blushing  shame  and  misery  of  his  faithful  wife 
and  daughters,  if  he  lias  any;  to  think  of  the  merciless  doom  to  which  he 
has  been  cruelly  assigned,  are  enough  to  rouse,  and  it  will  rouse,  the  con- 
tempt and  execration  of  the  whole  educated  world  against  his  sentence. 
1845.  Amicus  Yeritatis. 


90  NARRATIVE  OF  EVENTS. 

THE  BISHOP'S  REITERATION  OF  HIS  ENTIRE  INNOCENCE. 

There  appears  to  have  been,  in  the  whole  of  the  preparation  for  sub- 
jecting me  to  the  late  trial,  a  singular,  and  certainly  a  most  unchristian 
effort,  to  evade  the  possibility  of  failing  in  that  design,  by  not  allowing  the 
chance  which  our  Divine  Lord  provides  for  his  followers,  of  avoiding  pub- 
lic discipline  by  the  beneficent  influence  of  private  remonstrance.  And 
surely  not  less  singular  and  unchristian  is  the  disposition  thus  manifested, 
to  resist  the  Saviour's  gracious  purpose,  in  this  blessed  provision,  of  ward- 
ing off  scandal  to  His  Church.  Three  of  the  prominent  actors  in  this 
matter,  the  Rev.  Messrs.  Paul  Trapier,  John  B.  Gallagher,  and  Clement 
M.  Butler,  had  been  connected  with  me  by  the  sacred  tie  of  Christian 
instructor  and  Christian  pupils.  Not  one  of  them  ever  uttered  to  me  a 
word  indicative  of  wounded  feeling,  of  knowledge  of  charges  against  me, 
or  of  solicitude  for  what  might  be  the  consequence  of  evil  report  on  one 
who  had  ever  treated  them  as  a  father  and  a  friend.  The  first  that  that 
father  and  friend  knew  that  any  of  them  had  aught  against  him,  was  his 
finding  them,  as  his  formal  accusers,  arrayed  for  bringing  down  upon  him 
the  strong  arm  of  the  Discipline  of  the  Church.  How  far  their  conduct 
admits,  not  of  the  excuse  (for  there  can  be  none),  but  of  the  explanation, 
that  thero  were  malignant  promptings  behind  them,  not  jet  fully  brought 
to  light,  is  what,  in  the  providence  of  a  just  and  righteous  God,  may  here- 
after more  clearly  appear.  Had  they  adopted  the  course  which  was 
bounden  upon  them  as  Christian  men  and  Christian  ministers,  it  is  morally 
certain  that  they  had  not  been  guilty  of  inflicting  such  wounds  on  the 
Church,  and  bringing  such  wicked  scandal  on  its  holy  cause.  Having 
been  the  means  of  producing  excitement  against  me  in  a  distant  part  01 
the  country,  heightened  and  rendered  efficient  by  co-operation  with  en- 
mity to  my  religious  principles,  they  found  willing  coadjutors  in  the  work 
of  stirring  up  strife  within  my  own  Diocese.  An  agent  from  another  dis- 
tant State  was  employed,  who,  loudly  proclaiming  his  work,  in  domestic 
circles,  in  places  of  public  resort,  among  the  masses  congregated  in  travel- 
ling vehicles,  any  where  and  every  where  affording  a  hearing  ear,  spread 
the  matter  far  and  wide,  and  set  ten  thousand  tongues  at  work  to  spread  it 
further.  The  press  took  it  up,  even  in  the  lowest  and  most  malignant 
form  and  spirit  in  which  that  mighty  engine  can  do  its  work.  Thus  was 
thero  made  a  public  rumor  to  which,  three  weeks  before,  this  Diocese  was 
an  utter  stranger,  and  which  was  assumed  as  ground  for  instituting  the 
trial,  and  pushing  it  to  the  conviction  and  punishment  said  to  be  demanded 
by  the  thus  disturbed  community.  I  was  the  victim  whose  sacrifice  was 
to  meet  the  demand. 

My  original  plea  of  not  guilty  is  here  solemnly  renewed.  It  respects 
both  the  purpose  of  my  heart  and  the  misconduct  alleged.  But  let  me  not 
be  suspected  of  putting  forth  any  proud  claim  to  exemption  from  frailty 
and  sinfulness.  While  truth  would  be  sacrificed  did  I  profess  conscious- 
ness of  having  justly  incurred  the  verdict  which  has  been  awarded  me, 
God  knows  that  I  presume  not  to  absence  of  guilt  before  Him,  in  the  per- 
petual sinfulness  of  my  heart,  and  in  daily  leaving  undone  what  I  ought 
to  do,  and  doing  what  I  ought  not  to  do.  And  God  forbid  that  I  should 
not  Ijo  humbled  under  a  sense  of  the  too  successful  bctrayments,  in  each  of 
these  classes  of  omission  and  commission,  into  which  I  am  often  thrown. 
They  are  perpetual  calls  for  contrition,  humility,  and  repentance.  May  I 
have  grace  not  to  suffer  them — God  forgive  mo  if  I  am  wrong  in  the  hum- 
ble hope  that  I  do  not  suffer  them — to  pass  unheeded ! 

It  has  pleased  my  Maker  to  give  me — friends  and  enemies  unite  to  tell 
me  so — a  heart  inclined  warmly  to  reciprocate  friendly  affection,  to  yield 
to  its  reality  or  appearance  in  others,  and  to  bo  unsuspicious  of  deceit  in 


NAB  BAT  I VE   OF   EVENTS.  01 

professed  friends.  I  have  carried  this  too  far,  and  trusted  too  fully  that 
my  own  unconsciousness  of  any  other  than  right  emotion,  entered  also  into 
the  apparent  sympathy  with  \\  Inch  I  was  met.  As  the  result,  exaggerations, 
distortions,  mis-statements,  have  tinned  to  ill  what  was  ho  neither  in 
intent  nor  in  deed.  Evil,  totally  undesigned  and  unthought  of  hy  me,  and 
not  justly  attributable  to  me,  has,  by  this  means,  been  done  to  a  cause 
dearer  to  me  than  life.  I  humbly  trust  that  I  have  profited  by  the  bitter 
experience,  and  earnestly  pray — and  ask  the  faithful,  fervent  prayers  of 
the  beloved  clergy  and  people  of  my  Diocese  in  my  behalf — that  this 
profiting  may  appear  in  all  that,  in  my  character  and  conduct,  may  per- 
tain to  the  glory  of  God,  the  cause  of  Ilis  Gospel,  and  the  purity  and  pros- 
perity of  His  Church. 

I  know  not  how  extensively  efforts  may  still  bo  in  progress,  and  yet  be 
multiplied,  against  mo.  There  are  propensities  in  the  human  heart  which 
foster  even  a  love  for  rendering  the  unhappy  still  more  miserable,  for 
trampling  the  fallen  still  more  deeply  iu  the  dust,  for  closing  the  door  to 
all  influence  of  the  reacting  spirit  of  Christian  justice  and  mercy,  and  for 
pushing  malevolent  design  to  the  utmost  gratification.  In  the  Lord  put  I 
my  trust.     To  Him,  as  the  Searcher  of  hearts,  I  commit  my  cause. 

I  thank  God  that  my  connection  with  tlio  Diocese  which  I  love  so 
much,  whose  love  to  mo  has  contributed  so  largely  to  my  happiness,  and 
in  whoso  behalf  I  have  so  gladly  and  heartily,  but,  alas,  so  imperfectly 
labored,  is  not  severed.  I  feel  that  this  imposes  upon  me  a  most  serious 
responsibility.  I  ask  the  union  with  my  own,  of  the  prayers  of  the  Dio- 
cese, that  I  may  be  rightly  guided:  may  be  ready  and  willing  to  sacrifice 
to  duty  all  personal  considerations;  may  not  forget  to  cherish,  as  they 
should  be  cherished,  reverence  and  submission  to  authority;  may  have 
grace  to  be  free  from  unchristian  resentment  for  efforts  that  have  been 
made,  that  may  now  be  makiug,  or  that  may  yet  be  made,  to  destroy 
my  character  and  influence;  and  may  be  led,  in  all  that  may  devolve 
upon  me,  to  such  decision  and  such  action,  as  will  be  approved  by  the 
Lord  the  Righteous  Judge. 

Benj.  T.  Onderdonk. 
New- York,  January,  1845. 


THE  SMOTHERED  CANON. 

The  following  article,  from  the  pen  of  the  Rev.  Dr.  Seabury,  appeared 
in  The  Churchman  of  March  1,  1845  : 

The  unlawfulness  of  a  trial  under  a  Canon  enacted  subsequently  to  the 
time  when  the  offences  charged  against  the  person  tried  are  alleged  to 
have  been  committed,  seems  to  us  to  be  conclusively  made  out  by  a  corre- 
spondent, on  the  principles  of  common  morality  and  common  sense  as  well 
as  of  law.  There  is  another  question  on  which  men  may  form  an  intelli- 
gent opinion  with  no  other  lights  than  those  of  common  sense,  knowledge 
of  human  nature,  and  love  of  moral  equity ;  and  that  is  whether  all  the 
legislation  and  attempted  legislation  on  the  trial  of  a  Bishop  were  not 
liable  to  be  biassed  by  the  simultaneous  agitation,  among  the  members  of 
Convention,  of  the  question  of  the  presentment  of  so  marked  a  man  as  the 
Bishop  of  New- York.  This  is  one  of  those  subjects  on  which  it  is  difficult 
to  write  without,  either  exposing  one's  self  to  the  charge  of  insinuating 
what  one  is  afraid  to  avow,  or  holding  back  opinions  which  it  is  due  to 
truth  and  justice  to  express.     In  the  way  of  explanation,  therefore,  we 


92  NARRATIVE  OF   EVENTS. 

deem  it  proper  to  premise,  that  while  we  do  not  believe  that  the  theologi- 
cal opponents  of  Bishop  Onderdonk  were  capable  of  entering  into  a  con- 
tract, verbal  or  written,  to  effect  his  destruction  by  insidious  legislation, 
we  do  believe  that  they  were  not  so  far  above  the  passions  and  infirmities 
of  human  nature,  as  to  shut  out  from  their  minds  all  influence  of  his 
contemplated  presentment.  If  we  are  unfair  in  this  belief,  we  arc  unfair 
to  human  nature,  and  not  to  the  opponents  of  Bishop  Onderdonk,  person- 
ally considered.  We  hold  it  to  be  extremely  improbable,  on  the  acknowl- 
edged principles  of  human  nature,  that  the  prospect  of  Bishop  Onder- 
donk's  presentment  should  not  have  biassed  the  legislative  proceedings  of 
all  those  who  entertained  the  prospect  pending  those  proceedings.  Our 
remark  is  general  and  applicable  to  the  friends  as  well  as  the  opponents 
of  the  Bishop  ;  neither  of  whom,  wo  are  persuaded,  could  have  taken  part 
in  the  passage  of  a  Canon  on  the  Trial  of  a  Bishop,  or  any  kindred  sub- 
ject, without  being  influenced  by  considerations  bearing  on  Bishop  Onder- 
donk's  particular  case,  if  his  trial  were  in  prospect.  Certainly  there  are 
several  features  in  the  Canon  of  the  last  Convention  which,  if  his  friends, 
and  especially  the  New-York  delegation,  had  suffered  to  pass  in  silence 
while  they  expected  him  to  be  tried  under  it,  they  would  have  been  con- 
sidered, right  or  wrong,  to  have  shown  a  culpable  remissness.  But  they 
had  no  expectation  of  such  an  event  as  the  impeachment  of  Bishop  On- 
derdonk. This  we  know  to  be  true  of  the  New- York  delegation,  and  we 
have  no  reason  to  doubt  that  it  is  equally  true  of  a  large  majority  of  those 
Clerical  and  Lay  Deputies  with  whom  they  might  be  expected  to  act  in 
concert ;  and  it  is  on  the  ground  of  their  not  haviug  any  such  prospect 
before  them  that  we  account  for  their  having  made  no  attempt  to  secure  a 
two-thirds  vote  (instead  of  a  majority)  for  a  verdict,  a  clause  of  limita- 
tion, a  right  of  challenge,  and  other  matters  which  might  have  been  equi- 
tably  inserted  in  the  Canon,  or  at  least  proposed.  On  the  other  hand,  it 
appears  from  Bishop  Onderdonk;s  "  Statement,"  from  Bishop  Meade's 
Statement,  and  from  the  pamphlets  of  the  Rev.  Messrs.  Trapier  and  Rich- 
mond, that  the  opponents  of  Bishop  Onderdonk  were,  during  the  time  that 
the  Convention  was  in  session,  engaged  in  measures,  to  which  indeed  the 
Bishop  and  his  friends  attached  at  the  time  very  little  importance,  but 
which  have  since  turned  out  to  be  preliminary  to  his  impeachment,  trial, 
aud  indefinite  suspension.  Is  it  then,  at  all  inconsistent  with  charity  to  be- 
lieve that  the  opponents  of  the  Bishop  during  the  Convention,  entertained 
the  expectation  of  his  presentment  ?  Or  that  entertaining  it  they  acted 
under  its  influence  ?  Or  that  its  influence  might  have  predisposed  them 
to  devise  or  favor  those  very  features  of  the  Canon  which  a  counter-influ- 
ence would  most  unquestionably  have  led  his  friends  strenuously  to  op- 
pose? We  see  nothing  in  the  opinion  inconsistent  with  Christian  princi- 
ples and  sound  reason  ;  nothing  which  is  not  perfectly  natural. 

In  the  remarks  which  we  arc  about  to  offer,  we  mean  to  insinuate  noth- 
ing which  we  are  unwilling  to  express  ;  but  we  mean  to  bring  together 
facts  in  the  order  in  which  they  really  occurred,  and  to  make  ourselves, 
and  to  suggest  to  our  readers,  such  inferences  from  the  combination  as  we 
think  to  be  warranted  by  the  known  principles  of  human  conduct. 

The  General  Convention  met  on  the  second  of  October.  From  Bishop 
Onderdonk's  statement,  confirmed  by  Bishop  Meade, it  appears  that  "some 
six  or  seven  days  after  the  opening  of  the  Convention,"  Bishop  Meade  re- 
quested Bishop  Onderdonk  to  leave  the  room  in  which  the  Bishops  as- 
sembled in  order,  as  it  afterwards  appeared,  that  the  former  might  bring 
before  his  brethren  sundry  matters  to  the  disparagement  of  the  former. 
On  the  fourteenth  day  of  October,  Bishop  Chase  introduced  to  the  atten- 


NARRATIVE   OF   EVENTS.  93 

tion  of  the  House  of  Bishops  a  paper  rotating  to  the  character  and  conduct 
of  the  Bishop  of  New-York,  and  asked  him  if  he  wished  to  retire.  Bishop 
Onderdonk  remained,  and  the  paper,  after  an  earnest  discussion,  was  not 
received,  hut  returned  unopened  to  the  persons  who  presented  it.  On  the 
twelfth  of  October,  that  is  between  the  attempt  of  Bishop  Meade  and  the 
attempt  of  Bishop  Chase  to  make  the  character  of  Bishop  Onderdonk,  in 
his  absence,  a  topic  of  discussion  with  their  brethren,  Bishop  Mcllvaine, 
from  the  Committee  on  Canons,  (consisting  of  Biehops  Mcllvaino,  (jadsdeu, 
aud  Elliott),  reported  the  following  Canon: 

Of  the  Effect  of  Suspension  from  the  Ministry  upon  Jurisdiction. 

Section  1.  Any  Bishop,  Priest,  or  Deacon,  who  shall  incur  the  penalty  of  indefinite 
Suspension  from  the  exercise  of  the  Ministry  by  the  proper  authority,  shall  be  thereby 
held  incapable  of  Jurisdiction,  whether  Parochial  or  Diocesan,  daring  the  continuance 
of  such  suspension,  and  shall  be  void  of  any  Jurisdiction  vested  in  him  at  the  time  of 
such  suspension,  by  the  sentence  duly  awarded  and  pronounced. 

Section  '1.  In  case  of  the  limited  suspension  of  any  Bishop,  the.  Standing  Committee 
of  the  Diocese  of  such  suspended  Bishop  may  apply  to  any  Bishop  or  Bishops  of  this 
Church  to  perform  Episcopal  duties  within  such  Diocese ;  which  duties  shall  bo  re- 
ported in  writing  to  the  Convention  of  said  Diocese,  at  its  annual  meeting,  by  the  Bishop 
or  Bishops  performing  the  same. 

Section  3.  In  case  of  the  limited  Suspension  of  any  Presbyter  of  this  Church  having 
charge  of  a  Parish,  the  Wardens  and  Vestry  of  the  Parish  of  such  suspended  Presby- 
ter may  apply  to  anv  Presbyter  or  Presbyters  of  this  Church  to  perform  the  Parochial 
duties  within  such  Parish,  which  duties  shall  be  reported  in  writing  to  the  Bishop  of 
the  Diocese  in  which  such  Parish  is  located,  at  its  annual  meeting,  by  the  Presbyter 
or  Presbyters  performing  the  same. 

On  motion  of  Bishop  Ives,  seconded  by  Bishop  Doane,  this  Canon  passed 
the  House  of  Bishops.  On  Jie  same  day  it  was  sent  to  the  House  of  Depu- 
ties. On  the  17th,  Dr.  Upfold,  Chairman  of  the  Committee  on  Canons 
reported,  and  offered  a  resolution  to  the  effect  that  the  House  concur  in 
the  enactment  of  the  Canon,  striking  out  its  first  section. 

The  House  having  considered  the  same — on  motion, 

Resolved,  That  this  House  do  concur  with  the  House  of  Bishops  in  the  enactment  of 
the  Canon  entitled,  "Of  the  Effect  of  Suspension  from  the  Ministry  upon  Jurisdiction," 
with  the  following  amendments  : 

1.  Strike  out  the  first  and  third  sections  thereof. 

2.  Strike  out  the  word  "  limited  "  in  the  first  line  of  the  second  section. 

On  motion,  Ordered,  That  the  said  Canon  thus  amended  be  sent  to  the  House  of 
Bishops. 

The  concurrence  of  the  House  of  Deputies  in  the  Canon  as  thus  amended, 
was  reported  on  the  same  day  to  the  House  of  Bishops. 

Whereupon,  on  motion  of  Bishop  Onderdonk,  of  New- York,  seconded  by  Bishop 
Brownell, 

Resolved,  That  this  House  non-concur  with  the  House  of  Clerical  and  Lay  Deputies, 
in  their  amendments  to  the  Canon  entitled,  "Of  the  Effect  of  Suspension  from  the 
Ministry  upon  Jurisdiction." 

Resolved,  That  notice  of  this  non-concurrence  be  sent  to  the  House  of  Clerical  and 
Lay  Deputies,  and  that  this  House  propose  to  said  House,  a  conference  on  the  subject 
of  the  above-mentioned  Canon,  and  that  the  Committee  of  this  House  on  the  Canons 
bo  appointed  on  said  conference. 

The  conference  was  held,  and  on  the  18th,  Bishop  Mcllvaine  made  the 
following  report: 

The  Committee  on  Canons  appointed  to  act  as  a  Committee  of  Conference  with  a  Com- 
mittee of  the  House  of  Clerical  and  Lay  Deputies  on  certain  amendments  made  by  said 
House,  in  t  he  <  !anon  sent  down  from  this  House  entitled,  "  Of  the  Effect  of  Suspension 
from  the  Ministry  upon  Jurisdiction,"  report  that  they  have  conferred  as  directed,  and 


94  NARRATIVE   OF   EVENTS. 

see  no  prospect  that  this  House  will  be  .able  so  to  modify  the  Canon  under  consideration, 
as  to  free  it  from  the  objections  made  by  the  other  House,  without  destroying  its  es- 
sential character. 

Your  Committee  therefore  move  that  they  bo  discharged  from  the  further  considera- 
tion of  this  subject.  . 

Chas.  P.  McIlvain-e,  Chairman. 

Whereupon,  on  motion  of  Bishop Mcllvaine,  seconded  by  Bishop  Gadsden,  the  above 
motion  was  agreed  to. 

It  appears  then  that  Bishop  Mcllvaine  reported  a  Canon,  the  effect  of 
which  would  have  been  to  make  a  Bishop  under  sentence  of  indefinite  sus- 
pension incapable  of  jurisdiction;  that  the  objections  made  by  the  House 
of  Deputies  were  such  as,  if  concurred  in,  would  defeat  this  operation  of 
the  Canon  ;  that  an  attempt  was  made  in  a  conference  to  remove  these  ob- 
jections ;  and  that  after  the  conference,  Bishop  Mcllvaine  reported  that  it 
was  found  impracticable  so  to  modify  the  Canon  as  to  free  it  from  the  ob- 
jections brought  against  it,  "  without  destroying  its  essential  character." 

But  for  the  objections  made  to  this  Canon  in  the  House  of  Deputies, 
Bishop  Onderdonk  would  at  this  moment  be  incapable  of  jurisdiction,  and 
stand  in  no  other  Canonical  relation  to  the  Diocese  of  New-York  than  to  the 
Dioceso  of  Ohio.  Surely  it  is  remarkable  that  Bishop  Onderdonk  should 
himself  have  moved  the  House  of  Bishops  to  non-concur  in  those  very  ob- 
jections but  for  which  he  would  not  now  be  the  Bishop  of  New-York. 
Surely  it  is  incredible  that  if  he  had  had  an  upbraiding  conscience,  or  the 
least  ground  for  suspicion  or  fear  of  the  result  which  a  few  shortweeks  af- 
terwards developed,  he  would  not  have  concurred  in  and  maintained  those 
objections  of  the  Lower  House  which  have  saved  him  from  total  destruc- 
tion. It  is  not  in  human  nature  that  it  should  be  otherwise.  But  Bishop 
Elliott  who  was  with  Bishop  Mcllvaine  on  the  Committee  of  Canons  and 
Conference,  and  Bishop  Meade,  who  with  Bishop  Chase  attempted  in  an 
informal  way  to  bring  Bishop  Onderdonk's  alleged  delinquencies  before 
his  brethren,  were  his  presenting  Bishops ;  and  for  the  same  reason  that 
we  believe  that  Bishops  Onderdonk,  Ives,  and  Doane,  if  they  had  at  all  ex- 
pected the  trial  and  the  indefinite  suspension  which  followed  it,  would  have 
been  led  by  such  expectation  to  oppose  the  defeated  Canon,  we  also  be- 
lieve that  Bishops  Mcllvaine  and  Elliott,  if  they  at  all  expected  the  trial 
and  the  indefinite  suspension  which  followed  it,  were  led  by  such  expecta- 
tion first  to  urge  the  adoption  of  the  Canon  and  afterwards  to  abandon  it. 
Thinking  it  probable  that  an  indefinite  suspension  might  soon  take_  place, 
they  passed  a  Canon  which  made  such  suspension  vacate  jurisdiction ; 
and  finding  that  this  end  of  the  Canon  could  not  be  gained,  they  abandoned 
it  altogether. 

There  are  some  other  notanda  in  this  smothered  Canon. 
1.  Referring  to  "  indefinite  suspension,"  the  first  clause  provides  that 
the  person  suspended  shall  be  held  incapable  of  jurisdiction,  "during  the 
continuance  of  such  suspension."  Now  if  the  framers  of  the  Canon  meant  by 
indefinite  suspension  the  same  as  perpetual  suspension,  this  clause  would  not 
have  been  inserted:  it  would  either  have  been  omitted,  or  so  expressed  as 
to  imply  that  the  suspended  person  should  be  incapable  of  jurisdiction 
during  the  remainder  of  his  natural  life.  Hence  wo  argue  that  this 
indefinite  suspension  was  intended  to  be  a  suspension  unlimited  by  a  pre- 
scribed time  or  condition,  and  to  continue  during  the  will  of  some  body 
or  some  person  or  persons  supposed  to  have  the  power  to  remove^  it. 
In  this  view  we  are  confirmed  by  a  remark  attributed  to  one  of  the  Bish- 
ops in  reference  to  the  suspension  (also  indefinite,)  of  Bishop  II.  F.  On- 
dferdonk,  intimating  that  the  sentence  might  be  removed  by  the  House 
of  Bishops  at  the  next  General  Convention.     Now  to  make  a  sentence  of 


NARRATIVE   OF   EVENTS.  05 

suspension  determinable  neither  by  a  limit  of  time  nor  the  performance  of 
a  fixed  condition  evidencing  contrition  and  amendment,  but  by  the  mere 
will,  possibly  the  caprice  of  a  higher  power,is  an  insidious  license  of 
tyranny.  The  man  or  men  who  may  Keep  another  suspended  at  will, 
have  him  completely  in  their  pow  er  ;  and  though  the  sentence  be  aw  arded 
hy  tho  rules  of  law  and  liberty,  yet  if  it  may  be  instantly  reversed  or  op- 
pressively continued  hy  the  sir.  rain  sir  jubeo  of  an  irrcsponsihlo  power,  the 
ends  of  law  and  liberty  are  defeated.  Our  opinion  is  that  the  Low  Church 
Bishops  anticipating  for  themselves  a  majority  in  the  House  of  Bishops, 
devised  this  Canon  as  the  means  of  exercising  arbitrary  power  ;  and  though 
we  regret  that  the  design  should  have  escaped  the  observation  of  their 
colleagues,  we  are  none  the  less  thankful  that  it  was  frustrated  in  the  House 
of  Deputie  •■ 

2.  Why  did  the  House  of  Deputies  require  the  word  limited  to  he  ex- 
punged from  tho  second  section?  We  see  no  meaning  in  the  omission, 
except  it  be  that  suspension  is  in  its  nature  limited,  and  therefore  tho 
word  is  superfluous.  And  in  this  view  we  are  confirmed  by  several  mem- 
bers of  tho  late  General  Convention,  that  the  word  was  in  fact  objected  to 
on  this  very  ground. 

3.  It  is  remarkable  that  if  this  Canon  had  passed  in  the  form  in  which 
it  was  approved  hy  the  House  of  Deputies,  it  would  have  invested  tho 
Standing  Committee  of  this  Diocese,  by  express  letter,  with  the  very  au- 
thority which  they  have  now  felt  themselves  constrained  to  assume,  and  to 
fortify  hy  ingenious  though  questionable  construction.  Without  the  re- 
motest apprehension  that  New- York  would  soon  have  a  suspended  Bishop, 
and  with  no  other  than  a  general  vieAv,  the  House  of  Deputies  voted  for 
the  Canon  in  a  form  in  which  it  would  now  benefit  our  Diocese  and  meet 
the  wishes  of  our  Standing  Committee.  Bishop  Mcllvaine,  however,  from 
the  Committee  on  Canons,  reported,  that  in  this  form  the  Canon  was  use- 
less. Now  whether  Bishops  Mcllvaine  and  Elliott  did  or  did  not  enter- 
tain the  opinion  that  our  Diocese  might  probably  soon  be  in  the  position  in 
which  it  now  is,  it  is  certainly  remarkable  that  by  stifling  the  Canon  in 
this  form  they  have  enabled  the  most  violent  opponents  of  Bishop  Onder- 
donk  to  take  precisely  the  ground  which  in  fact  they  have  taken  in  order 
to  drive  the  Bishop  into  a  resignation  ;  the  ground,  namely,  that  the  Dio- 
cese must  be  deprived  of  all  Episcopal  services  as  long  as  Dr.  Onderdonk 
continues  to  he  Bishop.  The  first  aim  of  the  Canon  was  to  make  indefi- 
nite suspension  void  jurisdiction;  and  being  foiled  in  this,  Bishops  Mcll- 
vaine and  Elliott  report  against  the  Canon  in  a  form  which,  if  it  had  been 
adopted,  would  have  taken  from  their  friends  in  this  Diocese  the  strongest 
argument  which  they  now  use  to  compass  tho  same  end,  viz. :  to  void  the 
jurisdiction  of  our  suspended  Bishop.  Bishop  Mcllvaine  might  well  re- 
port that  concurrence  with  the  House  of  Deputies  would  rob  the  Canon 
of  il  its  essential  character." 

We  have  the  charity  to  believe  that  it  required  the  excitement  (in  door 
and  out  door)  of  the  late  trial  to  work  up  a  portion  of  the  Court  to  the  point 
of  degradation ;  and  that  when  the  presentment  was  getting  up,  and  lie- 
fore  the  public  mind  was  pro-occupied  with  rumors,  nothing  worse  was 
contemplated  than  the  less  odious,  though  equally  effectual,  terminus  of  an 
indefinite  suspension  which  should  vacate  jurisdiction.  Of  course  wre  do 
not  know  that  even  this  view  was  held,  but  we  will  state  another  fact — 
valcat  quantum,  &c. — that  a  gentleman  of  great  eminence  and  foresight  in 
another  Diocese,  wrote,  pending  the  trial  and  at  a  time  when  we  had  no 
thought  of  any  thing  but  an  acquittal  or  at  worst  an  admonition,  to  a 
friend  in  this  city,  pointing  out  the  invalidity  of  a  sentence  of  indefinite 
suspension,  it  being  his  opinion  that  the  Court  would  terminate  its  pro- 
ceedings with  the  infliction  of  this  identical  sentence. 


Jfirst  lltflhnunt 


RESTORATION  OF  BISHOP  ONDEEDONK, 


Soon  after  the  unjust  sentence  of  suspension  was  pronounced  upon  Bishop 
Onderdonk,  he  determined  to  address,  in  the  first  instance,  the  Bishops,  as 
soon  as  their  House  should  he  organized,  on  the  first  day  of  the  Session  of 
the  General  Convention  of  1847.  It  was  his  object  in  this  address  to  them 
to  take  the  most  general  ground;  avoiding  all  points  or  references  which 
might  hinder  Christian  love  and  peace  from  qualifying  the  rigor  of  justice 
where  this  might  he  supposed  to  present  counter-claims  :  and  to  request 
action  on  any  ground  of  law,  justice,  or  mercy,  which  to  his  brethren  re- 
spectively might  be  deemed  the  proper  one,  and  in  any  capacity  which 
they  might  choose,  either  as  the  body  of  American  .Bishops  competent  to 
act  in  their  own  right,  or  as  the  House  of  the  Convention  proposing  joint 
action  to  the  House  of  Deputies.  Accordingly,  on  Wednesday,  October 
Gth,  the  Bishop  addressed  to  his  Eight  Rev.  brethren  the  following  com- 
munication : 

BISHOP    ONDERDONK?S    LETTER   TO    THE    BISHOPS. 

To  the  Bight  Reverend  the  Bishops  of  the  Protestant  Episcopal^  Church 
in  the  United  States  of  America,  their  sutfering  brother,  the  Bishop  of 
New-York,  respectfully  and  earnestly  tenders  this  his  request,  that  they 
will,  by  such  act  as  may  seem  .to  them  right  and  proper,  open  the  way  for 
his  relief  from  the  operation  of  the  sentence  of  suspension  from  the  Min- 
istry, passed  upon  him  by  a  portion  of  their  body,  forming  an  Ecclesiasti- 
cal Court  in  the  city  of  New- York,  in  January,  1845. 

I  make  this  request,  brethren,  Avith  an  ardent  desire  again  to  serve  our 
Master  in  the  functions  of  our  holy  office.  Severely  as  I  have  been 
afflicted,  I  humbly  hope  that,  by  the  overruling  providence  and  grace  of 
God,  the  period— now  nearly  three  years— of  my  present  heavy  trial,  has 
not  been,  and  will  not  bo.  without  a  blessin«T.  In  a  state  of  almost  entiro 
seclusion  from  the  world,  I  have  earnestly  endeavored,  in  reliance  on  the 
Holy  Ghost,  and  with  constant  prayer  for  His  influences,  to  keep  a  per- 


NARRATIVE   OF    EVENTS.  97 

petual  guard  over  my  heart,  to  detect  its  evil  tendencies,  to  discover,  for 
greater  future  watchfulness,  wherein  these  have  led  mo  astray,  and  to 
cultivate  i  he  spirit  of  humble  penitence,  meek  submission,  and  evangelical 
faith,  devotion,  and  charity.  I  trust  I  am  not  presumptuous  in  hoping 
that  hence,  as  well  as  from  the  sacred  duties  and  meditations  to  which  1 
have  applied  myself,  God  will  graciously  allow  fruit  to  grow,  both  in 
my  personal  devotion  to  a  godly  fife,  and  in  earnest  and  faithful  pastoral 
labor,  should  I,  in  His  merciful  Providence,  again  be  permitted  to  minister 
among  His  people. 

Praying  that  the  Lord  will  so  incline  your  hearts,  and  direct  your  coun- 
sels, in  a  matter  fraught  to  me  with  such  deep  and  painful  solicitude,  and 
such  momentous  interest,  as  will  most  accord  with  His  glory  and  your 
duty,  I  am,  Brethren, 

Yours,  in  the  bonds  of  Christian  respect  and  love, 

Benj.  T.  Onderdoxk. 
New-York,  October  6,  1847. 

It  was  a  part  of  Bishop  Onderdonk's  plan  to  wait,  after  having  sent  the 
above,  for  the  remainder  of  the  -week,  and  if  then  uninformed  as  to  its 
favorable  effect,  to  send  to  the  General  Convention  a  Memorial  praying  for 
its  interposition  in  his  behalf,  on  the  ground  of  the  illegality  and  invalidity 
of  the  sentence.  He  therefore,  on  Monday,  October  11th,  sent  the  follow- 
ing to  each  House  of  the  Convention  : 

BISHOP  ONDERDONK'S  FIRST  MEMORIAL.* 

To  the  B\  /  ;  •,  the  Clergy,  and  the  Laity  of  the  Protestant  Episcopal  Church 
in  the  United  States  of  America,  in  General  Convention  assembled,  the 
Bishop  of  the  Diocese  of  New-York,  respectfully  presents  this  Memorial : 

It  is  known  to  your  venerable  body  that  your  memorialist  was,  on  the 
third  day  of  January,  in  the  year  1845,  declared  by  a  Court  of  Bishops, 
organized  under  a  Canon  of  the  General  Convention,  and  holding  its  ses- 
sions .in  the  city  of  New-York,  to  bo  suspended  from  all  Episcopal  and 
ministeri  il  functions  ;  as  appears  by  the  printed  record  of  the  proceedings 
of  said  Court,  to  which  (the  same  having  been  published  and  extensively 
circulated)  your  memorialist  respectfully  refers  your  venerable  body  for 
the  details  of  his  trial  by  tho  said  Court. 

Firmlv  persuaded  that  the  sentence  then  passed  on  him  was  not  justified 
by  the  laws  of  the  Church,  and  that  the  privations  and  sufferings  to  which 
he  has  been  and  is  thereby  subjected,  are  at  variance  with  principles  which 
lie  at  the  fo  relation  of  the  rights  and  liberties  of  American  citizens,  and 
with  tho*  which,  by  the  Protestant  Reformation,  effected  the  deliverance 
of  both  clergy  and  laity  from  the  tyranny  of  unjust  and  anomalous  judicial 
proceedings;  your  memorialist  appeals  for  relief  to  your  venerable  body, 
as  representing  the  wisdom,  righteousness,  and  authority  of  the  Church 
which  has  constituted  it,  an  well  as  for  remedy  of  illegal  proceedings,  had 
under  the  supposed  sanction  of  its  laws,  as  for  providing  just  and  whole- 
some legislation. 


*  The  following  note  accompanied  the  Memorial : 

"The  R    h  ip  of  New-York  respectfully  requests  the  Ri~ht  Rev.  the  Presiding  Bishop  of  the 
House  of  B    b  >]>-,  to  lay  th  •  enclosed  Memorial  before  that  House. 
"  New-V  )bzs,  Oct.  12,  1S4T." 

7 


98  NARRATIVE    OF    EVENTS. 

"Without  adverting  to  other  existing  grounds  for  relief,  but  specifying 
one  which  concerns  the  future  as  well  as  the  past,  and  the  Church,*  and 
every  Bishop  and  minister  of  the  Church,  as  much  as  it  does  himself,  and 
which  has  equal  substance  and  validity  in  every  supposable  state  of  facts  ; 
your  memorialist  objects  to  the  said  sentence,  which  is  suspension  without 
any  period  or  condition  of  limitation,  as  follows  : 

Our  Canons  clearly  distinguish  between  suspension  and  deposition.  The 
former,  therefore,  cannot  be  justly  so  regarded,  or  inflicted,  as  to  be  ren- 
dered practically  the  same  with  the  latter,  in  points  in  which,  according  to 
the  established  meaning  of  words,  there  is  between  them  an  essential  dif- 
ference. Functions,  powers,  or  rights,  personal  or  official,  cannot  be  de- 
stroyed by  the  same  law  which  only  suspends  them.  "When  the  thirty-ninth 
Canon  of  the  General  Convention  of  1832  declares,  "No  degraded  Minis- 
ter'" (or,  which  the  Canon  makes  the  same  thing,  no  deposed  Minister) 
■■  shall  l>e  restored  to  the  Ministry,'"7  it  inflicts  an  awful  extremity  of  pun- 
ishment and  suffering  on  a  particularly  defined  class  of  persons,  which  no 
man.  or  body  or  men,  has,  without  express  permission  of  law,  aright  to  in- 
flict on  any  other  class  of  persons.  Suspension  cannot  deprive  a  Minister 
of  a  claim  to  restoration,  except  upon  the  principle  which  would  subject 
the  kind  and  degree  of  judicial  punishment,  without  restraint  of  law,  to  the 
will  and  discretion  of  a  Court.  Hence,  your  memorialist  argues,  that  if 
there  is  no  power  appointed  by  law  to  terminate  a  sentence  of  suspension, 
and  if  there  is  no  general  law  regulating  the  term  of  suspensions,  and  if 
such  sentence,  passed  by  any  Court,  does  not  contain  within  itself  provi- 
sion for  its  termination,  either  at  a  prescribed  time,  or  on  prescribed 
conditions,  it  is  passed  contrary  to  law  and  equity,  or  at  least  in  fa 
ence  of  law :  either  of  which  must  be  considered  as  rendering  it  null  and 
void,  while  its  tendency  cannot  but  be  to  tyranny  and  oppression. 

Your  memorialist,  therefore,  respectfully  pleads,  that  he  is  now  suffer- 
ing under  the  shame  and  reproach,  and  under  the  manifold  privations  and 
afflictions,  of  an  illegal  sentence,  passed  upon  him  by  a  Court  instituted 
under  the  authority  of  your  venerable  body;  and  that,  in  the  ab- 
sence of  any  canonically  appointed  Court  of  Appeals,  he  has  an  equitable 
claim  upon  the  Supreme  Council  of  the  American  Church,  for  redress  of 
the  grievous  injury  and  wrong  thus  done  unto  him. 

In  respectfully  calling  the  attention  of  your  venerable  body  to  this  sub- 
ject, your  memorialist  will  not  pretend  to  independence  of  the  personal 
considerations  connected  with  himself  individually,  with  his  domestic  and 
social  relations,  and  with  the  happiness  he  has  experienced  in  many  years 
of  honest  and  cordial  efforts  to  be  faithful  and  useful  in  the  several  grades 
of  the  Christian  Ministry. 

Still  deeper,  however,  he  trusts,  is  the  solicitude  with  which  the  occa- 
sion fills  him  for  the  cause  of  truth  and  justice,  and  for  the  Christian  rep- 
utation and  interests  of  our  portion  of  the  Church  of  Christ.  Other 
branches  of  that  Church,  and  the  world,  will  now  have  an  opportunity  of 
judging  of  our  character  for  deference  to  law  and  order,  and  for  equitable 
regard  to  the  rights  and  liberties  of  all  sorts  and  conditions  of  men  in  our 
communion.  Nor,  in  judging  of  this,  will  they  forget  our  peculiar  respon- 
sibility as  a  protestant  branch  of  the  Church,  and  one  established  amidst 
the  free  institutions,  and  the  just  and  equal  laws  of  the  North  American 
Republic. 

Your  memorialist  confidently  trusts  that  he  will  be  understood  to  raise 
no  question  respecting  bis  Right  Reverend  Brethren  who  pronounced  sen- 
tence upon  him,  excepting  in  regard  to  their  judgments  These,  i'  is  well 
known,  are  often  erroneous,  in  entire  consistency  with  general  intelligence, 


NARRATIVE   OF   EVENTS.  99 

and  with  parity  ttod  uprightness  of  motive  and  intent.  The  questioning 
of  tin'  legality  or  equity  of  judicial  proceedings  and  decisions,  he  regards 
as  the  Bacred  right  of  every  Christian  freeman;  which,  when  exercised 
respectfully  and  courteously,  cannot  be  justly  impeached  on  the  ground  of 
its  personal  relations  and  bearings.  Its  exercise  in  the  present  instance, 
your  memorialist  regards  as  an  indispensable  requirement  of  a  conscien- 
tious sense  of  what  is  just  and  right.  It.  is  a  duty,  in  the  honest  discharge 
of  which,  in  the  fear  of  Cod,  he  throws  himself  upon  the  Christian  princi- 
ples and  feelings  of  your  venerable  body. 

'That  in  this,  and  all  other  matters  that  may  come  before  yon.  you  may  be 
guided  by  the  Holy  Spirit  of  wisdom,  understanding,  counsel,  and  the  fear 
of  God,  your  memorialist  devoutly  prays. 

Benj.  T.  Ondehdonk. 

New- York,  October  11,  1847. 

After  a  careful  perusal  of  this  document  (says  Rev.  Dr.  Scabury),*  we 
cannot  but  think  that  it  is  above  just  exception,  and  that  its  temper  must 
commend  it  to  the  approbation  even  of  such  ingenuous  minds  as  do  not 
acquiesce  in  tbo  correctness  of  its  arguments.  It  brings  no  accusation 
against  the  court,  the  law,  or  the  witnesses,  which  have  been  instrumental 
in  putting  the  Bishop  in  his  present  position.  It  breathes  not  a  word  of 
censure  against  the  Canon  under  which  he  was  tried,  or  the  Bishops  who 
took  part  m  the  trial.  It  says  not  a  word  of  the  ex  post  facto  operation 
of  the  Canon,  and  makes  no  allusion  to  the  agencies  under  which  tho 
trial  is  well  understood  to  have  been  got  up.  Never,  we  believe,  did  man 
write  under  circumstances  which  invited  more  various  and  more  severe 
censure,  and  yet  not  a  word  of  censure  has  escaped  from  his  pen.  It  is  a 
fair,  manly,  respectful  argument,  confined  to  the  single  point  of  the  ille- 
gality of  the  sentence,  and  evincing  even  on  this  point  an  earnest  solicitude 
to  be  understood  as  questioning  neither  the  intelligence,  nor  the  piety  and 
charity  of  the  court,  but  only  its  judgment  in  the  particular  matter  at 
issue. 

On  October  12th  tho  Memorial  was  read  before  the  House  of  Bishops, 
and  on  motion  of  Bishop  A.  Potter,  seconded  by  Bishop  Hopkins,  was  laid 
upon  the  table  for  tho  present.  On  October  15th,  on  motion  of  Bishop 
A.  Potter,  seconded  by  Bishop  Brownell,  it  was  resolved  that  the  Letter 
and  Memorial  be  referred  to  a  Select  Committee  of  five,  to  consider  and 
report  thereon.  On  the  28th,  the  day  of  the  adjournment  of  the  Conven- 
tion, tho  Committee  reported  as  follow-; : 

REPORT  OF  COMMITTEE  ON  BISHOP  ONDERDONK'S  MEMORIAL. 

The  Committee  to  which  was  referred  the  Letter  and  Memorial  of  the  Right  Rev. 
Benjamin  T.  Onderdonk,  I).  I).,  beg  leave  to  report,  that  they  have  taken  those  Docu- 
ments under  their  most  serious  and  deliberate  consideration,  and  have  come  to  the 
following  conclusions : 

The  application  of  the  Memorialist,  to  lie  relieved  from  the  sentence  of  the  Eccle- 
siastical Court,  by  which  he  stands  suspended,  without  limitation,  from  the  office  of 
the  Episcopate  and  the  Ministry,  cannot  be  favorably  regarded  by  your  Committee 
for  several  reasons. 

Firs'.  Because  the  Memorialist,  once  convicted,  on  unimpeached  and  ample  testi- 
mony, of  the  charge  of  immorality,  can  hardly  hope  to  exercise  again  his  high  and 
holy  office,  to  the  honor  of  God  and  the  edifying  of  the  Church,  in  the  face  of  the 
same  community. 


"Fran  The  Churchman,  December  4,  tstr. 


1()0  NARRATIVE    OF    EVENTS' 

The  office  of  a  Bishop  was  confeired  upon  tho  Memorialist,  not  for  his  own  sake, 
but  for  the  benefit  of  the  Church  ;  ami,  therefore,  it  is  not  for  his  sake,  but  for  tho 
welfare  of  the  Church,  that  the  exercise  of  it  should  ever  he  committed  to  him  again. 

Your  Co  nmittee  do  not  maintain  the,  impossibility  of  his  restoration,  nor  deny  that 
ho  may  hereafter  satisfy  the  Church  of  the  strength  of  his  claims ;  but  they  do  not 
conceive  that  it  would  bo  consistent  with  tho  high  and  solemn  responsibility  of  tho 
Episcopal  character,  fur  tho  Bishops  to  entertain  the  application  of  the  Memorialist, 
until  he  c  in  1  ly  before  them  the  most  ample  and  satisfactory  testimonials. 

8  condhj.  Whilst  your  Committee  danol  perceive  that  the  repentance  and  reforma- 
tion of  the  Memorialist  would,  of  themselves,  entitle  him  to  be  restored  to  the  full 
exercise  of  his  Episcopal  functions  and  his  charge  of  the  Diocese,  yet  they  arc  bound 
in  candor  further  to  say,  that  he  dues  not  stand  in  the  position  of  a  penitent.  So 
far  from  this  is  the  fact,  that  he  has  chosen,  in  ins  Memorial,  to  be  an  accuser  of  tho 
law,  of  the,  court,  and  of  the  witnesses  ;  and,  instead  of  confessing  his  faults,  ami  pro- 
fessing repentance  for  them,  he  assumes  the  character  of  an  injured  man,  and  claims 
the  remission  of  his  sentence  as  a  matter  of  right.  Such  being  the  ground  on  which 
the  Memorialist  lias  chosen  to  rest  his  application,  it  is  manifest  that  the  IIouso  of 
Bishops  could  not  grant  it  without  incurring  the  reproach,  either  of  admitting  tho 
justice  of  his  complaint,  or  of  shrinking  from  the  defence  of  the  truth  through  the 
force  of  clamor.  If  they  were  capable  -of  deserving  either  of  these  imputations,  they 
would  show  themselves"  unworthy  of  the  confidence  of  the  Church,  and  altogether 
unlit  to  guard   the   holy   administration   of    its   discipline,  which   is   committed  to 

their  care. 

But  in  none  of  the  censures  of  the  Memorialist  can  your  Committee  concur.  As 
to  the  Canon  of  1844,  under  which  he  was  tried  and  condemned,  the  main  principle, 
that  a  Bishop  might  be  presented  by  any  three  Bishops,  as  well  as  by  his  own  Con- 
vention, was  introduced  nine  years  before. 

The  <1  institution  of  the  Church  was  altered  in  order  to  admit  the  change,  and  the 
first  Canon  in  which  the  principle  was  embodied,  was  passed  in  1841,  with  the  most 
entire  unanimity.  The  House  of  Clerical  and  Lay  Deputies  in  1844  made  no  altera- 
tion in  that  principle,  but  only  supplied  the  details  which  many  conceived  to  be  neces- 
sary to  its  practical  operation."  And  the  Canon  passed  by  them  was  approved  in  the 
House  of  Bishops  by  the  Memorialist  himself,  and  met  with  no  opposition  from  any 

And  on  the  trial  of  the  Memorialist  under  that  Canon,  not  one  word  was  said  1  y 
him  or  by  his  aide  counsel,  about  its  supposed  unconstitutionality,  nor  about  its  <".t 
post  facto  operation.  Neither  was  there  the  slightest  exception  taken,  or  attempted  to 
be  taken  against  anv  of  the  Bishops  that  composed  the  Court.  Neither  was  there 
any  assault  upon  the  character  of  the  witnesses,  or  any  attempt  to  impeach  their  repu- 
tation for  veracity. 

Neither  after  the  verdict  of  "Guilty  was  declared,  and  tho  respondent  was  called 
upon  to  assign  his  reasons  why  sentence  should  not  be  pronounced,  did  he  suggest  a 
word  against  the  Canon,  nor  against  the  legality  of  the  whole  proceeding;  nor  did  he 
even  adc  for  a  new  trial,  or  review,  as  he  manifestly  should  and  would  have  clone,  it 
he  or  his  c  >unsel  had  supposed  that  injustice  had  been  done  him. 

The  sentence  which  followed  was  pionounced  by  nine  of  the  Court,  while  the  other 
ei»ht  voted  for  his  d  (gradation.  And  of  the  validity  and  effect  of  that  sentenc  .  your 
Committee  cannot  have  a  moment's  doubt.  It  stand-,  and  must  stand  in  full  force, 
until  it  is  remitted  by  the  competent  authority.  But  while  your  Committee  sustain 
the  proposition,  that  the  remission  of  that  sentence  \<  a  possible  event,  in  c  »nrempla- 
tion  of  law.  they  deem  it  but  justice  to  the  Memorialist,  and  to  the  Diocese  of  N'ew- 
York  to  add.  ttiat  they  consider  the  probability  of  its  occurrence  so  slender  and  remote, 
as  scare  sly  to  afford  a  reasonable  basis  for  future  action. 

In  conclusion,  your  Committee  respectfully  recommend  the  adoption  of  the  following 
resolution  : 

Bisoloed  That  the  Mem  >ri alist  have  leave  to  withdraw  his  Letter  and  MemoriaL 
All  which  is  respectfully  submitted. 

T.  C.  Buowxei.i., 
John  II.  Hopkins, 
.1.  P.  K.  Hknshaw, 
Ge<>.  YV.  Feeeman. 

House  of  Bishops,  Oct.  27,  1847. 

The  undersigned,  without  taking  part  in  the  argument  of  the  Committee,  concurs 
in  the  resolution  presented. 

Sam  l  A.  McCoskby. 


NARRATIVE    OF    EVENTS.  101 

The  foregoing  resolution  was  adopted  by  the  House,  and  tho  Report  en- 
tered upon  the  Minutes,  and  a  copy  ordered  to  be  sent,  to  Bishop  *  mderdonk. 

This  Report,  it  will  he  seen,  charges  Bishop  Onderdonk,  in  words,  with 
being,  "  in  liis  .Memorial,  an  OCCUBer  of  the  law,  of  the  court,  and  of  tin- 
witnesses."  Where  is  the  proof  of  this  charge  ?  There  is  not  a  syllable 
of  the  kind  in  the  Memorial.  As  to  the  law,  indeed,  how  can  he  be  an 
accuser  of  it,  who  appeals  to  it,  and  asks  to  have  judgment  conformable 
to  it  ?  And  as  to  tho  court  and  the  witnesses,  they  may  have  been 
accused  by  the  public,  by  the  Church,  and  by  their  own  consciences,  but 
most,  certainly  they  have  not  been  accused  in  the  Memorial  of  Bishop 
Onderdmik 

Tho  Report  then  adds,  "In  none  of  the  censures  of  tho  Memorialist  can 
your  Committee  concur;"  and  having  thus  represented  the  Memorial  as 
containing  "  censures,"  it  proceeds  to  particularize  and  examine  them,  as 
if  they  were  contained  in  the  Memorial,  while  in  fact  the  Memorial  contains 
nothing  of  the  sort.  A  more  extraordinary  proceeding  we  never  knew. 
The  Committee  had  a  Memorial  referred  to  them  which  they  profess  to 
consider  ;  and  yet,  without  assigning  a  solitary  reason  against  the  illegality 
of  tho  sentence  under  the  Canon — the  only  point  which  the  Memorial 
affirms — they  make  it  tho  occasion  to  vindicate  themselves  from  certain 
pretended  "  censures,"  of  which  tho  Memorial  says  nothing.  Where  has 
the  Memorialist  censured  tho  Canon  for  its  unconstitutionality?  or  for  its 
ex  post  facto  operation  ?  or  for  its  allowing  a  Bishop  to  be  presented  by  any 
three  Bishops?  Where  has  he  censured  any  Bishop  or  Bishops  for  taking 
part  in  the  proceedings  of  the  Court  ?  Where  has  ho  censured  the  wit- 
nesses by  making  an  "assault  on  their  character,". or  by  an  '"attempt  to 
impeach  their  reputation  for  voracity  ?"  That  such  censures  have  been 
made,  is  true  enough;  and  that  the  Committee  felt  their  force  is  but  too 
evident,  from  the  very  feeble  attempt  they  have  made  to  answer  them. 
But  can  anything  bo  more  unjust  and  ungenerous  than  for  this  Committee 
to  take  advantage  of  their  position  to  bold  up  Bishop  Onderdonk  to 
public  odium,  as  the  author  of  these  censures,  when  he  is  as  innocent  of 
them  as  the  dumb  sheep  before  his  shearers  ? 

But  the  most  painfully  astonishing  part  of  this  most  extraordinary  docu- 
ment, is  that  in  which  the  Committee  deny  to  Bishop  Onderdonk,  in  the 
very  face  of  his  own  meek  profession  to  the  contrary,  the  character  of  a 
penitent.  "  lie  does  not  stand  in  the  position  of  a  penitent !"  Let  the 
reader  compare  with  these  words  of  the  Committee  the  Bishop's  own 
declaration,  that  "in  a  state  of  almost  entire  seclusion  from  the  world,  he 
has  earnestly  endeavored,  in  reliance  on  the  Holy  Ghost,  and  with  constant 
prayer  for  its  influences,  to  keep  a  perpetual  guard  over  his  heart,  to 
detect  its  evil  tendencies,  to  discover,  for  greater  future  watchfulness, 
wherein  they  have  led  mo  astray,  and  to  cultivate  the  spirit  of  humble 
penitence,  meek  submission,  and  evangelical  faith  and  devotion."  Of  a 
document  which  denies  tho  author  of  these  words  the  position  of  a 
penitent,  wo  shall  only  say,  that  if  it  breathes  the  spirit  of  the  Gospel  of 
Christ,  wo  have  yet  to  learn  what  the  Gospel  is. 

True,  Bishop  Onderdonk  has  not  confessed  himself  guilty  of  the  particular 
acts  charged  on  him  by  his  Presenters,  and  of  immorality  and  impurity,  as 
found  by  the  Court.  But  when  a  most  respectable  minority  of  the  Court 
declared  at  tho  time  their  total  dissent  from  the  majority:  when  appeal 
has  been  made  to  the  Church  at  large  and  the  public,  and  followed  by  a 
like  division  of  opinion;  and  when,  after  three  years  spent  in  seclusion  and 
the  most  exemplary  devotion,  Bishop  Onderdonk  most  solemnly  declares 
that  be  has  earnestly  endeavored,  duriug  all  this  time,, to  cultivate  the 


102  NARRATIVE    OF   EVENTS. 

spirit  of  humble  penitence,  did  the  Gospel  of  Christ  require  this  Committee 
to  repel  him,  with  the  rude  declaration  that  he  is  not  a  penitent,  and  thus, 
by  manifest  implication,  to  declare  their  own  triumphant  majority  infallible 
in  judgment,  and  their  prostrate  brother  a  hypocrite  at  heart  ? 

The  truth  of  Bishop  Onderdonk's  plea  of  Not  Guilty  gains  strength,  and 
must  continue  to  gain  strength,  by  time.  Every  new  contumely  heaped 
upon  him  makes  him  a  brighter  example  of  Christian  humility  and  sin- 
cerity. The  six  Bishops,  also,  who  found  him  innocent,  have  done  nothing 
to  impair  confidence  in  their  original  judgments,  which  are  more  and  more 
commending  themselves  to  the  approbation  of  the  Church.  Can  we  say 
so  much  of  the  majority?  To  say  nothing  of  past  developments,  what 
proof  does  the  above  Report  furnish  of  sound  and  impartial  judgment  on 
the  part  of  its  signers  ? — Churchman,  Dec.  4,  1847. 

RESOLUTIONS  OF  THE  NEW-YORK  CONVENTION  OF  1847. 

At  the  General  Convention  of  1847,  the  Deputation  from  the  Diocese  of 
New-York  presented  the  following  resolutions  from  the  Convention  of  that 
Diocese,  passed  September  30th,  1847  : 

On  motion  of  the  Rev.  Dr.  Forbes,  it  was  unanimously  Resolved,  as  the 
solemn  conviction  of  this  Convention,  That  justice  to  the  Church  in  the 
Diocese  of  New-York,  as  well  as  its  best  interests,  demand  that  it  be 
relieved  from  its  present  anomalous  position. 

Resolved,  That  the  General  Convention  be,  and  is  hereby  requested  to 
give  to  the  Church  iu  this  Diocese  such  relief  as  may  be  consistent  with  its 

powers. 

Resolved,  That  a  copy  of  the  foregoing  Resolutions  be  transmitted  to  the 

next  General  Convention. 

Attest, 

Benjamin  I.  Haight, 

Secretary. 

PROCEEDINGS  OF  THE  GENERAL  CONVENTION  OF  1847. 

The  action  taken  by  the  General  Convention  upon  the  above  resolutions 

is  well  set  forth  in  the  following  able  paper,  from  the  pen  of  the  Rev.  Dr. 

Seabury,  which  appeared  as  an  editorial  in  The  Churchman,  of  November 

13th,  1847  : 

In  reviewing  the  proceedings  of  the  General  Convention  in  relation  to 
the  affairs  of  our  Bishop  and  Diocese,  we  cannot  refrain  from  an  expression 
of  satisfaction  to  find  that  most  of  the  principles  contended  for  by  this 
journal  have  been  confirmed  and  put  beyond  dispute.  We  have  contended 
that  Dr.  Onderdonk,  though  suspended,  is  still  the  Bishop  of  the  Diocese, 
so  that  the  Diocese  is  not  vacant;  and  this  view  has  been  clearly  taken  by 
the  General  Convention.  We  have  opposed  the  scheme  of  an  election  by 
the  Diocese  of  an  Assistant  Bishop  possessed  of  full  Episcopal  powers  and 
authority,  and  this  scheme  has  received  no  countenance  from  the  General 
Convention.  We  have  contended  against  the  lawfulness  of  the  sentence  of 
indefinite  suspension,  and  the  General  Convention  has  sustained  the  correct- 
aess  of  this  view  for  the  future,  having  provided  by  Canon  that  hereafter 
no  such  punishment  shall  lie  known  in  the  Church.  On  all  these  points 
the  General  Convention  has  been  manifestly  governed  by  principle  ;  and  it 
is  satisfactory  to  us  to  know  that  in  those  matters  in  which  they  could  freely 
legislate  from  principle  alone,  and  without  having  their  course  warped  by 


NABEATIVE   OF    EVENTS.  103 

a  regard  to  present  expediency — that  is  to  say,  in  every  measure  which 
would  not  lead  to  an  instant  resumption  id' duties  on  the  part  of  our  unfor- 
tunate Bishop — tla-y  have  arrived  at  the  conclusions  which  we  have  main- 
tained and  ;id\  ocated. 

It  musl  be  owned  that  these  points  are  of  great  importance  :  and  I  hough 
the  House  of  Deputies  have  not  come  up  to  the  measure  of  our  expectations, 
yet  we  gratefully  acknovt  Ledge  that  much  of  their  action  has  been  in  the 
right  direction,  and  tended,  in  sonic  degree,  to  check  encroachments  on  our 
ecclesiastical  liberties. 

1.  The  first  result  which  we  notice  is  the  decision  that  the  Eight  Rev. 
Dr.  Onderdonk:  is,  in  law  and  fact,  the  Bishop  of  the  Diocese. 

This  point  had  been  virtually  settled  in  our  own  Diocese.  It  is  true  that 
the  Trustees  of  the  Episcopal  Fund  had  refused  to  pay  the  Bishop  bis 
salary  except  under  instruction  from  the  Convention,  though  the  refusal 
may  have  been,  and  we  believe  was,  rested  on  other  grounds  than  that  of 
bis  having  ceased  to  he  Bishop  of  the  Diocese;  it  is  true,  also,  that  attempts 
have  been  made  in  Convention  to  prove  the  vacancy  of  the  Diocese.  But 
the  Convention  itself  has  done  nothing  to  sanction  this  view.  On  the  con- 
trary, by  authorizing  the  payment  to  the  Bishop  of  a  portion  of  the  income 
of  the  Episcopal  Fund,*  the  Convention  have  recognized  his  title  to  the 
office.  Moreover,  the  Bishop,  during  the  whole  time  of  his  suspension,  has 
occupied  the  Episcopal  residence  without  let  or  molestation.  Th;^  ques- 
tion of  vacancy,  therefore,  may  he  regarded  as  having  been  virtually 
settled  in  our  own  Diocese.  Still,  it  was  a  question  which  w-as  agitated, 
and  it  is  impossible  to  say  to  what  disastrous  results  the  constant  agitation 
of  it  might  have  led.  Now,  however,  that  the  sense  of  the  General  Con- 
vention has  been  had  on  the  subject,  we  may  consider  the  question  as 
effectually  set  at  rest.  At  least,  if  the  question  is  to  be  agitated,  we  shall 
be  now  in  a  stronger  position  than  ever  to  meet  it;  so  that,  in  any  event, 
the  Bishop,  and  the  sound  principles  which  are,  as  we  conceive,  identified 
with  the  recognition  of  bis  right  to  his  Diocesan  office,  have  gained  much 
by  the  action  of  the  General  Convention.  Not  only  Bishop  Onderdonk,  hut 
every  Diocesan  Bishop  in  the  Church,  is,  in  virtue  of  this  action,  more 
firmly  seated  on  bis  throne  ;  for  once  let  the  doctrine  prevail,  that  Episcopal 
jurisdiction  comes  from  the  people,  and  a  Diocese  which  has  become,  from 
whatever  cause,  dissatisfied  with  its  Bishop,  will  never  want  for  an  excuse 
to  revoke  the  jurisdiction  which  it  fancies  it  has  conferred.  Wo  have 
reason,  therefore,  to  congratulate  the  Church  that  an  adherence  to  principle 
on  the  part  of  the  Clerical  and  Lay  Deputies,  and  a  just  perception  of  their 
interests  on  the  part  of  the  Bishops,  have  arrested  and  effectually  put  down 
the  infatuation  which  aimed  to  expel  Bishop  Onderdonk  from  his  See. 

2.  The  plan  of  an  Assistant  Bishop  to  be  invested  with  full  Episcopal 
power  and  authority  and  independent  of  the  lawful  Bishop  of  the  Diocese, 
is  another  rock  on  which  we  might  have  been  wrecked,  and  which  we  are 
thankful  to  have  escaped.  We  have  objected  to  this  plan  as  at  variance 
with  sound  views  of  Episcopacy,  and  as  tending  to  aggravate  the  condition 
of  the  Bishop  by  leaving  him  on  the  termination  of  the  operation  of  the 
sentence,  deprived  of  a  portion  of  the  rights  which  he  had  before  the  sen- 
tence was  pronounced. 

3.  The  third  result  effected  by  the  Convention,  is  the  prohibition  of  all 
indefinite  suspensions  for  the  future.  We  can  imagine  no  circumstances 
under  which  such  suspensions  are  justifiahle  ;  no  good  reason  why  every 
sentence  of  suspension  ought  not  to  be  limited  by  a  time,  at  the  expiration 

*  $2,500 per  annum,  with  the  Episcopal  re-idence. 


104  NARRATIVE    OP   EVENTS. 

of  which,  or  a  condition,  on  the  performance  of  which,  it  should  expire. 
"We  cannot  see  that  it  is  any  less  tyrannical  to  punish  a  man  without  trial 
than  to  keep  him  punished  without  trial.  To  suspend  a  clergyman  on  any 
charge,  say  of  intemperance,  on  the  accusation  of  secret  informers,  and 
without  allowing  him  a  fair  trial,  would  lie  thought  an  exerci.se  of  tyran- 
ny, hut  if  a  clergyman  has  heen  suspended  on  this  charge,  is  it  less  tyran- 
nical to  retain  his  sentence  on  the  accusation  of  secret  informers,  and 
without  allowing  him  the  opportunity  of  a  puhlic  trial  to  rebut  these 
accusations?  We  trow  not;  and  we  therefore  rejoice,  with  a  joy  propor- 
tioned to  our  hatred  of  tyranny,  that  the  General  Convention  has  provided 
against  the  occurrence  of  any  such  sentence  for  the  future.  For  this  result 
our  thanks  arc  exclusively  due  to  the  House  of  Deputies,  whose  firm  and 
manly  resistance  to  the  encroachments  of  the  Bishops  in  this  matter  are 
above  all  praise. 

In  proportion,  however,  as  we  admire  the  conduct  of  the  Deputies  on 
this  point,  we  must  deplore  the  inconsistency  by  which  they  have  given  with 
one  hand  what  they  have  withheld  with  the  other.     They  have  taken  the 
ground  that  for  the  future  there  shall  be  no  indefinite  suspensions,  and  to 
this  ground  the  Bishops  came,  though  with  manifest  reluctance.     But,  on 
the  other  hand,  they  have  consented  to  empower  the  Bishops  to  "  remit 
or  terminate"  a  judicial  sentence,  or  to  '•  modify  the  same  so  far  as  to  des- 
ignate a  precise  period  of  time,  or  other  specific  condition,  on  the  occur- 
rence of  which  such  sentence  shall   be  of  no  further  force  or   effect.''     In 
other  words,  they  have  empowered  the  Bishops  to  retain  a  judicial  sen- 
tence during  their  pleasure;  to  continue  a  man  in  a  state  of  punishment 
from  year  to  year  without  assigning  themselves,  or  giving  him  the  oppor- 
tunity to  know  and  refute,  the  reasons  which  they  may  have  for  this  con- 
tinued renewal  of  his  punishment.     The  Canon,  as  first   reported  by  the 
joint  Committee,  vested  this  power  with  the  House  of  Bishop's  ;  but  as  the 
House  of  Bishops  cannot  be  constitutionally  recognized  as  a  judicial  body, 
the  Canon  was  so  modified  as  to  vest  the  authority  in  the  Bishops  not  acting 
as  a  House.     But  if  the  Bishops  do  not  meet  as  a  House  or  Court,  who  has 
the  right  to  inspect  their  Minutes  ?  or  who  can  know  aught  of  the  proceed- 
ings ?     They  may  not  only  sit  with  closed  doors,  but  their  doings  may  be 
kept  secret  till  the  Day  of  Judgment.     Thus,  in  order  to  escape  from  one 
difficulty  our  legislators  have  run  into  a  greater,  and  erected  a  body  which 
has  no  analogy  in  history,  except  in  the  Inquisition  of  Venice,  or  other  om- 
nipotent irresponsibilities  !     So  utterly  vain  is  the  attempt  to  get  round 
an  illegal  sentence  .  every  expedient  to  escape  from  it,  save  the  only  hon- 
est one  of  declaring  its  nullity,  only  serving  to  add  one  incongruity  to 
another. 

By  providing  against  indefinite  suspensions  for  the  future,  the  General 
Convention  have  plainly  declared  their  disapprobation  of  such  sentence,  and 
virtually  condemned  it  in  the  two  instances  in  which  it  has  been  actually 
imposed.  By  empowering  the  Bishops  by  Canon  to  terminate  such  sen- 
tence, they  have,  in  effect,  acknowledged  that  no  such  power  before  existed 
under  our  Canons.  The  Convention  has  thus  sanctioned  the  premises  from 
which  the  illegality  of  the  sentence,  in  the  case  of  Bishop  Onderdonk,  is  a 
necessary  conclusion.  Wo  certainly  must  regret  that  the  Convention  has 
not  declared  expressly,  what  they  have  declared  by  the  strongest  implica- 
tion. "We  regret  it  for  the  sake  of  the  Bishop  of  this  Diocese,  whose  hard 
fate  it  is  to  be  the  only  man  in  our  Church  on  whom  an  Ecclesiastical  Court 
ever  has  imposed,  or,  while  our  Canons  stand  as  they  are,  ever  can  impose 
a  sentence  of  indefinite  suspension.  We  regret  it  for  the  sake  of  this 
Diocese,  a  majority  of  which  would,  we  believe,  have  rejoiced  in  the  lib- 


NARRATIVE   or   EVENTS.  105 

eration  of  their  Bishop j  ami  wo  rcj  pel  il  still  move  for  the  sake  of  the 
General  Convention, whose  reputation  for  equal  legislation  lias  not,  wc 
fear,  been  raised  by  their  allowing  th  i  !  i I ^  1 1  <  > i »  of  this  Diocese  to  continue 
under  a  disability,  the  injustice  of  which  they  have  acknowledged,  and  tho 
possibilil  v  of  which  they  have  prevented  in  all  other  cases;  in  other  words, 
by  their  virtually  excepting  one  man  from  the  benignant  operation  of  a 
salutary  law. 

We  are  aware  that  the  Deputies,  in  adopting  this  measure,  did  not  act 
(for  they  could  not  have  acted)  from  the  counsel  of  the  Jewish  High 
Priest  ( Jaiphas,  that  "  it  is  exj  client  that  one  man  should  die  for  the  peo- 
ple, and  the  whole  nation  perish  not."  They  did  not  consent  to  sacrifice 
Bishop  Onderdonk  to  tho  clamor  that  his  return  to  the  active  duties  of  tho 
Episcopate  would  be  injurious  to  his  Diocese  and  to  the  Church  at  large. 
On  the  contrarv,  they  were  led,  some  of  them  at  least,  into  this  very  mea- 
sure from  an  honest  desire  to  serve  Bishop  Onderdonk  and  effect  his  liber- 
ation. They  knew  that  tho  fourteen  Bishops  who  were  committed  against 
him,  would  set  their  faces  like  flint  against  every  direct  attempt  to  termi- 
nate the  sentence,  and  they  hoped  to  pain  from  these  Bishops  ultimately, 
by  conciliation,  an  end  which  they  could  not  obtain  directly  by  opposition. 
We  are  far  from  thinking  that  this  was  the  only  motive,  but  we  have  reason 
to  believe  that  it  was  one  of  the  motives  which  led  to  the  clothing  of  tho 
Bishops  with  the  power  of  remission  and  modification  of  judicial  sentences. 
But,  grateful  as  wc  arc  for  the  motive,  wc  think  tho  course  wrong,  both  in 
principle  and  policy.  It  is  wrong,  we  think,  in  principle  to  subject  the 
liberty  and  interest  of  one  man  to  the  arbitrary  will  of  others,  and  equally 
so  to  de]  rive  a  Diocese  of  the  benefits  of  the  presence,  of  it's  lawful  Bishop, 
in  the  House  of  Bishops,  during  tho  arbitrary  will  and  pleasure  of  an 
irresponsible  body.  And  equally  fatal,  wo  fear,  is  tho  mistake  in  pol- 
icy ;  for  had  tho  House  of  Deputies  boldly  and  firmly  planted  them- 
selves on  tho  ground  of  right  and  law;  had  they  said  expressly,  what  they 
have  said  by  tho  strongest  implication,  that  it  was  never  designed  by  tho 
Canon  that  a  Bishop  should  be  virtually  deposed  under  the  name  of  sus- 
pension,  and  that  a  Diocese  should  have  its  Bishop  indefinitely  excluded 
from  the  House  of  Bishops,  and  its  parishes  indefinitely  deprived  of  Episco- 
pal supervision,  thoy  would  have  arrayed  themselves,  as  it  seems  1 1  us,  in 
a  panoply  of  reason,  justice,  and  law,  too  strong  for  the  fourteen  Bishops 
to  resist."  But  what  have  our  Bishop  and  Diocese  now  to  hope  from  tho 
Bishop,',  when  our  strong  ground  has  been  taken  from  under  us  by  the 
concession  of  tho  House  of  Deputies,  and  the  Bishops  arc  left  to  act  out 
toward  us  their  own  good  pleasure  and  discretion.  It  is  a  pretty  safe 
maxim,  we  think,  that  men  who  arc  inexorable  to  the  voice  of  reason,  are 
not  less  inexorable  when  placed  in  a  position  in  which  stat  pro  ralione 
voluntas. 

"Wc  hope  that  these  remarks  will  not  be  taken  to  indicate  a  disposition 
to  cast  blame  on  the  Deputies,  or  a  feeling  of  discontent  with  the  result. 
When  we  look  back  at  tho  course  of  our  own  Diocesan  Convention  ;  when 
we  remember  that  tho  clergy  and  lay  delegates  of  our  own  Diocese  did 
not  expressly  assert  the  wrongs  done  to  their  Bishop  and  Diocese,  and  did 
not  demand  redress  for  their  wrongs  from  the  General  Convention  ;  that 
not  even  an  effort  was  made  by  cither  of  tho  contending  parties  in  our  own 
Convention,  in  behalf  of  tho  principles  by  which  they  were  respectively 
governed,  but  that  both  consented  lo  merge  their  differences  and  coalesce 
in  an  unanimous  request  for  " relief,"  it  would  be  strange,  indeed,  if  wo 
were  disposed  to  blame  the  House  of  Deputies  for  availing  themselves  of  the 
latitude  of  a  request  which  would  bo  satisfied  with  any  form  and  degree 


106  NARRATIVE   OF    EVENTS. 

of  relief  which,  consistently  with  the  Constitution  and  Canons  of  the 
Church,  might  he  granted.  And  when  we  consider  that  the  main  anxiety 
has  been  in  many  quarters  to  obtain  relief  for  the  Diocese  with  little  or  no 
regard  to  the  Bishop,  it  would  be  stranger  still  if  we  who  confess  to  the 
deeper  solicitude  for  the  party  who  is  in  the  greater  need,  should  not  be 
satisfied  with  a  result  which,  without  relieving  the  Diocese,  puts  the  Bishop 
in  a  stronger  position  than  ho  was  before. 

The  position  of  the  Bishop  is  stronger,  not  only  because  it  is  now  be- 
yond reasonable  dispute  that  he  is  the  Bishop  of  the  Diocese,  but  because, 
as  such,  he  will  now  be  the  centre  of  unity  around  which  all  sound  Church- 
men will  rally  ;  some  from  mere  principle,  and  only  with  the  resolution 
to  do  nothing  to  aggravate  his  condition;  and  others,  whose  confidence 
in  his  integrity  is  unshaken,  not  only  from  principle,  but  from  affection 
also,  and  with  a  determination  to  use  every  honorable  means  to  promote 
his  interests. 

But  we  cannot  see  that  the  position  of  the  Diocese  is  changed  for  the 
better  by  the  action  of  the  General  Convention.  The  proceedings  of  the 
Standing  Committee  have  been  legalized ;  and  so  far  the  Diocese  is.prac- 
tically  in  the  same  condition  as  before.  The  Convention,  indeed,  is  au- 
thorized to  put  the  Diocese  under  the  charge  of  the  Bishop  of  another 
Diocese,  or  of  a  Missionary  Bishop  ;  but  supposing  that  the  Convention 
consents  to  have  this  one  Sec  tilled,  for  a  time,  by  two  Bishops,  it  will  yet 
be  but  for  a  time,  and  they  will  still  lie  looking  forward  to  "  relief."  To 
whom  are  they  to  look  ?  Not.  as  before,  to  the  General  Convention,  con- 
sisting of  a  House  of  Bishops  and  a  House  of  Clerical  and  Lay  Deputies, 
governed  by  known  rules  and  Canons,  but  to  a  majority  of  the  Bishops 
acting  from' their  own  good  pleasure  and  discretion.  The  "relief,"7  then, 
which  the  Diocese  has  obtained,  is  a  change  of  the  tribunal  to  which  it 
looks  for  "relief."  It  had  a  General  Convention,  in  which  it  was  itself 
represented,  to  which  it  could  apply  for  "  relief."  It  has,  pw  hac  vice,  a 
provincial  council  in  which  its  voice  will  be  powerless  except  it  be  raised 
in  the  tone  of  entreaty  and  supplication. 

We  have  made  up  our  mind  that  this  state  of  things  is  to  continue,  in 
all  human  probability,  for  a  long  time  to  come.  With  so  large  a  number 
as  fourteen  previously  committed  against  him,  Bishop  Onderdonk  has 
small  reason  to  expect  a  relaxation  of  his  sentence  on  the  part  of  the 
Bishops.  The  sentence,  indeed,  remains  the  same  as  ever  ;  if  it  were  un- 
lawful before  the  last  General  Convention,  it  is  unlawful  now;  an  ex  -post 
facto  law  cannot  legitimate  an  ex  post  facto  sentence;  but  as  the  Diocese 
has  not,  so  it  is  fair  to  suppose  it  will  nut,  dispute  the  lawfulness  of  the 
sentence.  These,  we  believe,  are  the  only  two  ways  in  which  an  honorable 
or  desirable  "  relief"  can  be  obtained  ;  and  as  we  have  no  hope  for  either, 
wo  have  concluded  to  be  content  with  our  lot,  thankful  that  it  is  no  worse, 
and  to  dischargo  tho  duties  belonging  to  it  with  as  much  evenness  and  com- 
posure as  if  it  were  to  last  for  life.  Stability  is  one  great  end  of  legisla- 
tion, and  to  that,  we  believe,  the  General  Convention  has  contributed. 


S»M0itfc  Mohmenf 


FOE   THE 


RESTORATION   OF   BISHOP   ONDERDONK. 


PRELIMINARY  MEASURES. 

The  Rev.  Dr.  Sherwood  offered  certain  resolutions  in  the  New-York 
Convention  of  1848,  concerning  the  restoration  of  the  Bishop,  which  were 
laid  over  for  consideration  until  the  Convention  of  1849,  when  the  subject 
was  again  introduced.  Among  the  resolutions  offered  was  one  by  the 
Rev.  Dr.  [now  Bishop]  Whitehouse,  "  earnestly  and  affectionately  begging 
the  Right  Rev.  Bishop  Onderdonk  to  resign  the  jurisdiction  of  the  Diocese 
of  New-York/'  and  in  that  event  pledging  the  Diocese  to  pay  him  two  thou- 
sand dollars  per  annum  for  the  term  of  his  natural  life,  and  in  the  event 
of  his  decease,  with  her  survivorship,  the  sum  of  one  thousand  dollars, 
yearly,  to  his  widow  •  and  also  promising  that  the  Convention  would  then 
unite  in  an  earnest  petition  that  the  said  Bishop  may  be  relieved  from  all 
disabilities,  and  restored  to  the  full  exercise  of  such  clerical  and  Episcopal 
functions  as  are  allowed  to  a  Bishop  who  has  resigned  his  jurisdiction. 
The  vote  upon  this  resolution  was  as  follows  : 

Ayes.  Noes. 

Clergy 30  98 

Laity 44  TO 

U  168 

So  the  motion  was  lost. 

The  Rev.  Dr.  Sherwood's  resolutions  were  superseded  by  that  of  the 
Rev.  Dr.  Higbee,  which  was  more  concise,  requesting  the  Standing  Com- 
mittee to  present,  at  an  early  day,  an  address  to  the  House  of  Bishops, 
praying  them  to  adopt  such  measures  as  might  render  the  wise  intent  of 
the  provision  of  the  3d  Canon  of  1847  (enacting  that  thereafter  all  sen- 
tences of  suspension  should  specify  on  what  terms,  or  at  what  time,  the 
penalty  should  cease)  available  to  the  relief  of  the  Diocese  of  New- York. 
Although  the  Canonical  application  was  made,  in  October,  1849,  request- 
ing the  calling  of  a  special  meeting  of  the  Bishops,  such  meeting  was 


108  NARRATIVE   OF   EVENTS. 

not  convened  till  the  1st  of  October  following,  the  day  before  tbc  regular 
meeting  of  the  General  Convention  :  an  evasion  of  the  Canon  which  called 
forth  strong  censures  from  some  of  the  ablest  members  of  the  House  of 
Deputies.  In  pursuance  of  the  authority  committed  to  them,  the  Stand- 
ing Committee  caused  to  be  prepared  by  a  Sub-Committee  of  their  num- 
ber, and  adopted  the  following  very  able  document.  The  facts  of  the 
case  are  faithfully  and  impartially  stated,  and  the  principles  involved  are 
most  powerfully  and  lucidly  set  forth.  The  injustice  done  to  the  Diocese 
and  its  Diocesan  is  written  clearly,  as  with  a  sunbeam;  and  is  more  forci- 
bly stated  by  the  few  masterly  strokes  of  the  able  pen  of  the  accom- 
plished author,  than  could  be  done  by  volumes  of  declamation. 

THE    PRAYER 

Of  the  Diocese  of  New-York,  to  the  House  of  Bishops  of  the  Protestant 
Episcopal  Church,  for  relief  from  sufferings  consequent  on  the  Sentence 
of  the  Episcopal  Court,  in  January,  1845. 

TO    THE    RIGHT    REVEREND    THE    BISHOPS    OF    THE    PROTESTANT    EPISCOPAL 
CHURCH    IN    THE    UNITED    STATES    OF    AMERICA: 

Right  Reverend  Fathers :  In  a  notice  transmitted  to  you  through  our 
Secretary,  in  October  last,  we  had  the  honor  to  apprise  you  severally 
that  we  had  been  instructed  by  our  Convention  to  address  you  as  a  body, 
in  reference  to  the  present  sad  state  of  our  Diocese,  and  to  ask  of  3^011  that 
relief  which  the  legislation  of  the  Church  has  opened  the  way  for  you  to 
afford. 

As  preliminary  to  the  matter  in  hand,  we  submit  the  following  facts  : 

The  General  Convention  of  1844,  passed  a  Canon  (the  third  of  that  year) 
entitled,  "  Of  the  Trial  of  a  Bishop,"  which  provides  for  the  infliction  of 
a  penalty  in  the  following,  and  no  other  words  : 

"  And  if  it  be  that  the  accused  is  guilty,  the  Court  shall,  at  the  same 
time,  pass  sentence,  and  award  the  penalty  of  admonition,  suspension,  or 
deposition,  as  to  them  the  offence  or  offences  proved  may  seem  to  deserve." 

The  General  Convention  of  that  year  adjourned  on  the  22d  of  October, 
and  on  the  9th  day  of  the  month  following,  a  presentment  was  served  on 
our  Bishop,  the  Right  Reverend  Dr.  B.  T.  Onderdonk,  charging  offences 
alleged  to  have  been  committed  at  sundry  specified  times  between  June, 
1837,  and  July,  1842.  On  the  10th  of  December,  1844,  a  Court  of  Bishops 
met  in  this  city  for  the  trial  of  our  Bishop,  under  the  aforesaid  Canon  ; 
and  having  ti-ied  and  adjudged  him  "  guilty,"  pronounced  his  sentence, 
on  the  3d  of  January,  1845,  in  the  following  words: 

"It  is  hereby  ordered  and  declared,  that  the  sentence  by  this  Court 
upon  the  Respondent  is  suspension  from  the  office  of  a  Bishop  in  the 
Church  of  God,  and  from  all  the  functions  of  the  sacred  ministry — and  this 
Court  do  hereby  solemnly  vronouncc  and  declare,  that  the  Right  Reverend 
Benjamin  Tred'well  Onderdonk  is  suspended  from  all  exercise  of  his  Epis- 
copal and  ministerial  functions." 

In  September,  1847,  the  Convention  of  our  Diocese  adopted  unanimously 
the  following  resolutions,  to  be  transmitted  to  the  next  General  Conven- 
tion : 

"  Resolved,  As  the  solemn  conviction  of  this  Convention,  that  justice  to 


NARRATIVE   OF   EVENTS.  109 

the  Church  in  tho  Diocese  of  New-York,  as  well  as  its  best  interests,  de- 
mand that  it  bo  relieved  from  its  present  anomalous  position. 

"  Resolved,  That  tho  General  Convention  be,  and  is  hereby  requested  to 
give  to  the  Church  in  this  Diocese,  such  relief  as  may  he  consistent  with 
its  powers." 

In  October,  of  the  same  year,  the  General  Convention  met,  and  on  con- 
sideration of  the  application  of  this  Diocese,  enacted  the  following  Canons, 
the  only  ones  bearing  on  our  case,  which  are  known  as  the  second  and 
third  Canons  of  that  year: 

"  Of  the  Remission  or  Modification  of  Judicial  Sentences." 

"The  Bishops  of  this  Church  who  are  entitled  to  seats  in  the  House  of 
Bishops,  may  altogether  remit  and  terminate  any  judicial  sentence  which 
may  have  been  imposed,  or  may  hereafter  be  imposed,  by  Bishops  acting 
collectively  as  a  Judicial  Tribunal,  or  modify  the  same  so  far  as  to  desig- 
nate a  precise  period  of  time  or  other  specific  contingency,  on  the  occur- 
rence of  which,  such  sentence  shall  utterly  cease  and  bo  of  no  further 
force  or  effect :  Provided,'"  etc. 

"  Of  the  Penalty  of  Suspension." 

"Whenever  the  penalty  of  suspension  shall  be  inflicted  on  a  Bishop, 
Priest,  or  Deacon  in  this  Church,  the  sentence  shall  specify  on  what  terms, 
or  at  what  time  said  penalty  shall  cease." 

In  September,  1849,  the  Convention  of  our  Diocese  adopted — by  a  vote 
of  clergy,  ayes  91,  noes  37,  and  of  laity,  ayes  69,  noes  46 — the  preamble 
and  resolution  (already  transmitted  to  you  and  presently  to  be  quoted) 
under  which  we  address  you.  In  October  following,  the  canonical  num- 
ber of  Bishops  united  in  a  respectful  request  to  the  Presiding  Bishop  to 
call  a  special  meeting  of  your  body  in  the  month  of  February,  1850,  at 
such  time  in  the  month,  and  at  such  place  as  might  seem  to  him  fit  and 
convenient;  whereupon  the  Presiding  Bishop  convoked  your  venerable 
body  at  Cincinnati,  on  the  day  next  preceding  that  appointed  for  the  open- 
ing of  the  General  Convention  in  October,  1850;  at  which  time  and  place 
the  present  address  is  designed  to  reach  you. 

From  these  facts  the  position  of  your  memorialists  may  be  readily 
inferred  : 

The  third  Canon  of  1844,  by  distinguishing  suspension  from  deposition, 
evidently  intended  that  a  sentence  of  suspension  should  define  its  limit, 
This  opinion,  which  was  intimated  in  1845  by  the  body  now  addressing 
you,  in  connection  with  a  reference  to  high  legal  opinions  to  show  that  a 
sentence  of  suspension,  without  a  limit  in  terms,  was  void  and  inoperative 
in  law,  has  been  since  ruled  by  the  third  Canon  of  1847..  Agreeably, 
however,  to  the  letter  of  the  Canon,  the  Court  which  tried  our  Bishop  in- 
flicted the  penalty  of  "  suspension,"  without  a  limit  in  terms.  Had  the 
sentence  declared  tho  limit  of  the  penalty,  the  Diocese  of  New-York  would 
have  had  no  occasion  to  look  beyond  itself  for  relief  from  the  evils  which 
it  entailed.  But  the  sentence  did  not  declare  the  limit  of  the  penalty; 
nor,  on  the  adjournment  of  the  Court,  and  the  consequent  expiration  of 
its  powers,  was  there  any  tribunal  in  the  Church  canonically  competent  to 
declare  it.  Commensurate  in  duration  with  the  penalty  were  the  evils 
which  followed  it;  and  it  was  under  the  pressure  of  these  evils,  (evils,  be 
it  observed,  growing  not  out  of  suspension,  in  the  definite  sense  since  ruled 
by  the  Church,  but  out  of  an  unlimited  suspension.)  that  the  Supreme  Le- 
gislature of  the  Church,  on  the  first  occasion  of  its  meeting  after  the  decla- 
ration of  the  sentence,  was  approached  by  our  Diocese  with  a  unanimous 


110  NARRATIVE   OF    EVENTS 

prayer  for  relief.  The  General  Convention  promptly  provided  a  remedy 
for  these  evils,  by  clothing  your  venerable  body  with  a  canonical  power 
cither  to  remit  and  terminate  the  penalty  altogether,  or  to  affix  to  it  the 
limit  which  the  sentence  had  failed  to  express,  but  which  the  ''anon  now 
requires  shall  be  expressed  in  every  similar  sentence.  Since  the  adjourn- 
ment of  the  General  Convention  of  1847,  which  made  this  provision,  the 
present  is  the  first  occasion  of  the  meeting  of  your  body;  and  on  this  oc- 
casion we  come  before  you,  in  the  name  of  our  Convention,  with  the  prayer, 
that  you  would  exert  for  our  relief  the  power  with  which  you  have  been, 
for  this  purpose,  canonically  invested. 

That  the  scope  of  our  instructions,  and  the  mind  of  our  Diocese  may  be 
the  better  understood,  we  lay  before  you  a  copy  of  the  preamble  and  reso- 
lution which  have  led  to  the  present  address  : 

';  Whereas,  the  House  of  Bishops  and  the  House  of  Clerical  and  Lay 
Deputies  in  the  General  Convention  of  1847,  passed  a  Canon  in  the  words 
following : 

"  '  Whenever  the  penalty  of  suspension  shall  be  inflicted  on  a  Bishop, 
Priest,  or  Deacon  in  this  Church,  the  sentence  shall  specify,  at  what  time 
or  on  what  terms  said  penalty  shall  cease.' 

"  And  whereas,  the  Diocese  and  Diocesan  of  New-York,  have  been  for  a 
Ion  or  time  sufferins;  under  the  disabilities  which  it  was  the  design  of  the 
Canon  to  prevent  in  future  ;  Therefore, 

"Resolved,  That  the  Standing  Committee  be  requested  to  present,  at  an 
early  day,  an  address  to  the  House  of  Bishops,  praying  that  venerable 
body  to  adopt  such  measures  as  may  render  the  Avise  intent  of  the  provi- 
sions of  said  Canon  of  1847,  available  to  the  relief  of  our  Diocese  :  that  so 
the  objects  may  be  accomplished  of  the  unanimous  prayer  of  this  Conven- 
tion to  the  General  Convention  of  1847. '; 

The  preamble,  as  will  be  seen,  contains  two  clauses  which  are  the 
bases  of  the  resolution.  The  first  shows  the  equitable  principle  of  legis- 
lation on  which  we  rely  for  relief;  and  the  second  shows  the  end  or  object 
for  which  the  application  of  this  principle  is  invoked.  The  principle  is, 
that  the  penalty  of  suspension  should  have  a  declared  limit ;  and  the  end 
of  the  desired  application  of  this  principle,  in  the  present  instance,  is  to 
relieve  "the  Diocese  and  Diocesan  of  New-York."  The  actual  provisions 
of  Canon  III,  of  1847,  are,  of  course,  not  applicable  to  a  sentence  which 
was  pronounced  before  the  Canon  was  adopted  ;  but  the  "  wise  intent,''  or 
equitable  principle  of  these  provisions  is  applicable  to  the  sentence,  and 
your  venerable  body  have  been  canonically  empowered  to  apply  it.  The 
actual  provisions  of  the  Canon  demand  that  hereafter,  in  every  sentence  of 
suspension,  the  limit  of  the  penalty  shall  be  declared;  the  '-wise  intent" 
or  equity  of  these  provisions  leads  us  to  hope  that  a  suspension  inflicted 
before  the  adoption  of  the  Canon,  and  having  no  declared  limit,  will  also 
have  its  limit  declared  now  that  your  venerable  body  have  the  canonical 
power  to  declare  it.  If  the  limitation  is  made,  the  effect  of  it  will  be  to 
remove  the  suffering  which  has  induced  us  to  pray  for  relief ;  that  is  to 
say,  the  suffering  of  our  Diocese  and  Diocesan.  We  are  not  aware  that 
the  suffering  of  both,  the  Bishop  and  the  Diocese,  can  be  relieved  in  any 
other  way  (except,  indeed,  by  an  entire  remission  of  the  penalty)  than  by 
a  limitation  of  the  penally  :  so  that  both  the  principle  on  which  we  rely  for 
relief,  and  the  end  for  which  we  solicit  it,  concur  in  pointing  to  a  specific 
measure  for  the  accomplishment  of  the  objects  of  our  unanimous  prayer  to 
the  General  Convention  of  1S47. 

Before  we  make  our  request,  it  is  proper  to  open  up  its  grounds  by  ask- 
ing your  attention  to  the  nature  and  extent  of  our  grievances. 


NARRATIVE   OF   EVENTS.  Ill 

Suspension)  as  commonly  understood  and  as  now  ruled  by  nur  Canons, 
is  a  temporary  deprivation  of  office  j  differing  from  deposition  in  nothing 
except  that  it  lias  ;i  limit  of  time  or  condition.  Equally  with  deposition  it 
incapacitates  the  person  who  is  suffering  under  it  for  the  exercise  of  office ; 
and  it  is  distinguished  from  deposition  only  by  its  reserving  to  him  the 
right  to  resume  the  exercise  of  his  office  on  the  efflux  of  the  time,  or  the 
I'uliilni b  it  of  the  condition,  which  is  the  term  or  limit  of  the  penalty. 

In  the  case  of  our  Bishop,  however,  this  penalty  has  been  inflicted 
without  the  declaration  of  the  time  or  condition  which  is  necessary  in  order 
to  its  limitation.  In  this  respect,  ours  is  a  peculiar  hardship  ;  no  other 
Dioc  ■  sr  has  been,  or,  under  our  existing  Canons,  ever  can  be  subject- 

ed to  evils   flowing  from  the  same  cause;  the  power  of  your  venerable 
bo  ly  to  hold  the  Bishop  of  a  Dioceso  suspended  at  pleasure,  and  to  keep 
his   Diocese    under   a  sentence  which    works    all  the  evils  of  a  vacancy 
without  actually  creating  a  vacancy,  having   been,  on   the  first  and  only 
occasio  i  of  its  exercise,  and  with  your  own  consent,  abridged  and  limited 
forever  by  Canon   111.,  of  1847.     And  we  desire,  that  in  considering  our 
prayer,  the  unlimited  nature  of  the  sentence,  and  the  equitable  bearing  on 
it  of  this  ('anon,  may  be  kept  distinctly  and  constantly  in  view. 
The  effect  of  this  sentence  on  our  Diocese  has  been  most  disastrous. 
By  a   fundamental    principle   of  the  Catholic    Church,   adopted  in  the 
fourth  article  of  the  Constitution  of  our  own   Church  "  every  Bishop"  is 
require  1  to  "  confine  the  exercise  of  his  Episcopal  office  to  his  proper  Dio- 
.  unless  requested  to  ordain,  or  confirm,  or  perform  any  other  act  of 
the  Episcopal  Office  by  any  Church  destitute  of  a  Bishop."     The  Church 
of  New- York  was  wholly  deprived  of  the  services  of  its  own  Bishop,  either 
in  person  or  by  deputy;  but  it  was  not  destitute  of  a  Bishop,  and  conse- 
quently  not  in  a  condition  to  make  that  request  without  which  no  other 
Bishop  on   earth  could   lawfully  exercise  his  Episcopal  office  within  her 
borders.     Thus  were   we  totally  cut  off,   not  for  a  limited  time  (this  we 
could  hive  borne  in  silence.)  but  for  an  unlimited  time,  from  the  benefits 
of  that  institution,  which  we  believe  to  be,  under  God,  the  fountain  of  life 
to  the  Church.     From  the  moment  of  the  promulgation  of  the  sentence,  in 
January,  1845,  the  Diocese   of  New-York  was  thrown  back  into  a  state 
similar  to  that  in  which  it  was  placed  while  New-York  was  a  colony  of 
Great  Britain,  without  even  that  shadow  of  Episcopal  supervision  which 
existed  when,  during  our  colonial  dependence,  we  were  placed  under  the 
jurisdiction  of  the  Bishop  of  London.     We  had,  indeed,  a  Bishop  :  but  a 
Bishop  whose   hands  were  tied ;  who  was  unable  to  confirm  the  young,  to 
ordain  candidates  for  orders,  to  consecrate  churches,  to  inspect  our  parishes, 
to  exercise  discipline,  or  to  perform  any  one  act  of  Episcopal  supervision; 
and  all  this  for  a  time  of  unlimited  duration.     And  although  by  a  liberal 
construction  of  the  fourth  article  of  the  Constitution,  and  by  special  legis- 
lation grounded  on  the  necessity  of  the  case  (a  necessity  which  could  never 
have  beeu  assumed  to  exist  had  the  sentence  contained  a  limitation),  the 
rigor  of  our  condition  has  been  so  far  mitigated  that  we  have  been  enabled 
to  invito  other  Bishops  into  our  Diocese  for  the  performance  of  certain 
Episcopal  duties,  yet  the  evils  which  flow  from  the  want  of  Episcopal 
supervision  and  jurisdiction   still  remain  in  their  full  force  and  operation. 
The  Bishops  who  are  invited  to  officiate  in  our  Diocese  are  restrained  from 
evei^  act,  proper  to  their  office,  which  involves  the  power  of  jurisdiction 
Our   clergy  consequently  have  no  head  who  is  authorized  to  watch  over 
them,  to   advise  or  to  admonish,  to  warn  or  to  rebuke ;  and  our  parishes 
have  no  common  head  to  inspect  their  condition.     Our  candidates  for  the 
Holy  Ministry  are  deprived  of  the  paternal  guidance  which  the  Church 


112  NARRATIVE   OF   EVENTS. 

contemplates  and  which  they  especially  need.  Confirmations  are  no  longer 
appointed  by  the  ecclesiastical  authority  of  the  Diocese,  but  are  held  at  the 
pleasure  of  the  clergy  and  performed  by  a  Bishop  who  comes  in,  at  the  re- 
quest of  the  Standing  Committee,  to  give  effect  to  their  wishes.  Our  dis- 
cipline is  reduced  to  the  cold  and  mechanical  operation  of  legal  processes, 
without  a  breath  of  that  paternal  and  discretionary  authority,  which, 
when  wisely  exerted,  is  more  efficacious  for  the  prevention  of  evil  than  are 
Canons  for  its  cure.  In  a  Diocese  so  large  as  ours,  the  want  of  this  pater- 
nal supervision  is  severely  felt :  nor  can  we  refrain  from  expressing  the 
sorrow  with  which  we  have  beheld  instances  of  clerical  delinquency,  not 
cognizable  by  the  Canons,  tending  toward  and  at  length  resulting  in  defec- 
tion from  the  Church,  while  the  only  voice  which  could  be  raised  in  an 
effort  to  arrest  the  evil  by  authoritative  inquiry  or  remonstrance,  was  for- 
bidden to  speak ;  and  difficulties  between  rectors  and  parishes,  which 
might,  in  all  human  probability,  have  been  healed  by  timely  and  authori- 
tative interposition,  suffered  to  go  unchecked  until  they  had  bred  confu- 
sion and  scandal,  and  involved  the  parties  in  a  litigation  which  ended  in 
their  great  estrangement  or  in  the  rupture  of  the  sacred  tic  which  united 
them. 

A  special  effect  of  this  sentence  is  to  deprive  the  Bishop  on  whom  it 
operates  of  his  seat  in  the  House  of  Bishops;  and  we  deem  it  a  grievance 
that  the  Bishop  of  our  Diocese  shall  have  no  voice  in  the  body  which  is  so 
important  a  branch  of  that  legislature  to  whose  laws  we  are  subject,  and 
by  whose  acts  we  are  bound.  Had  this  deprivation  been  limited,  and  had 
the  limit  extended  beyond  the  meeting  of  one  General  Convention,  we  had 
been  silent :  but  when  this  address  reaches  you,  a  second  General  Conven- 
tion will  have  met,  from  which  the  Bishop  of  our  Diocese  is  excluded  :  and 
the  exclusion,  unless  you  shall  be  pleased  to  order  otherwise,  will  con- 
tinue to  be  for  an  unlimited  time. 

And  what  help  is  there  for  these  evils  ?  None  within  our  reach.  If  our 
Bishop  possessed  a  right  to  jurisdiction,  and  were  disqualified  for  its  exer- 
cise through  bodily  or  mental  infirmity,  we  might  choose  for  him  an  as- 
sistant or  coadjutor;  but  he  is  totally,  only  not  forever,  deprived  of  this 
right,  and  consequently,  so  long  as  the  deprivation  lasts,  of  all  capacity  of 
receiving  assistance  or  cooperation.  If  he  possessed  the  right,  and  were 
disqualified  for  its  exercise  through  his  own  fault,  through  any  acts  which 
brought  discredit  or  dishonor  on  his  character,  a  resignation  of  his  juris- 
diction, either  of  his  own  motion,  or  at  the  instance  of  his  Diocese,  would 
naturally  ensue.  But  the  case  has  been  taken,  not  by  our  act,  but  by  the 
act  of  members  of  your  own  body,  from  the  bar  of  public  opinion  to  the 
bar  of  Ecclesiastical  Law.  Where  you  have  put  the  case,  there  we  have 
beeu  fain  to  leave  it ;  without  lifting  a  finger  to  divert  the  current  of  eccle- 
siastical justice  from  that  channel  through  which  the  constituted  authorities 
of  the  Church  have  ordained  it  to  flow.  If  you  see  fit  to  loose  the. case 
from  its  legal  bands,  and  remit  it  to  the  moral  sense  of  the  community, 
which  has  heretofore  been  deemed  sufficient  to  guard  the  reputation  of  our 
American  Episcopate,  the  Diocese  of  New-York  will  know,  as  it  ever  has 
known,  wdiat  is  due  to  itself  from  its  Bishop  ;  and  knowing  this,  will  not 
fail,  as  it  never  has  failed,  to  maintain  its  own  dignity  and  self-respect. 
But  while  the  case  remains  in  its  present  state  we  are  powerless,  and  can 
look  only  to  your  venerable  body  for  relief. 

It  is  doubtless,  however,  your  pleasure,  Right  Reverend  Fathers,  no  less 
than  our  duty,  that  we  bring  our  prayer  within  the  bounds  marked  out 
for  our  relief,  by  the  Supreme  Legislature  of  the  Church.  To  this  end  wo 
purpose  to  forbear  to  ask  of  you  the  adoption  of  any  measure  in  our  be- 


NARRATIVE    OF    EVENTS.  113 

half,  which  the  General  Convention  has  forborne  to  sanction,  and  to  ask 
of  you  only  Buoh  a  measure  as  the  General  Convention  has  sanctioned. 

On  tin'  p raver  of  our  Diocese  to  tin-  General  Convention  of  1847,  this 
liody  enacted  no  Canon  either  to  void  the  jurisdiction  of  a  suspended 
Bishop,  or  to  authorize  the  Diocese  of  such  Bishop  to  choose  another 
Bishop,  who,  during  this  suspension,  should  exercise  jurisdiction  in  his 
stead.  In  a  word,  the  General  Convention,  after  due  deliberation,  forbore 
to  sanction,  and  by  so  doing  tacitly  condemned  any  and  every  measure  for 
our  relief,  which  would  lie  questionable  in  principle,  or  which  would  re- 
lieve the  Diocese  without  also  relieving  its  Bishop.  Confining  ourselves, 
as  in  duty  bound,  within  the  limits  marked  out  for  us  by  the  collective 
wisdom  of  the  Church,  we  ask  : 

1.  For  no  relief  to  our  Diocese  at  the  expense  of  any  principle  of  the 
Church. 

We  regard  the  See  of  New-York  as  filled;  and  since  the  House  of 
Bishops  has  been  canonically  empowered  to  remit  or  limit  the  penalty 
which  restrains  its  Bishop  from  the  exercise  of  his  functions,  the  plea  of 
necessity  cannot  be  urged  for  any  further  departure  from  the  Fourth  Ar- 
ticle of  our  Constitution,  or  rather  from  the  fundamental  principle  on 
which  this  article  is  founded,  that  the  Church  of  every  Diocese  is  one  body, 
of  which  its  Bishop  is  the  bead.  It  is  enough  that  our  Diocese,  though 
not  vacant,  invites  other  Bishops  to  perform  within  it  Episcopal  acts  not 
involving  jurisdiction.  To  acknowledge  another  centre  of  jurisdiction 
until  the  Diocese  shall  have  been  lawfully  vacated,  to  transfer  to  another 
Bishop  tho  canonical  obedience  which,  although  temporarily  interrupted, 
is  yet  duo  to  our  present  Diocesan,  is  a  measure  for  which,  we  believe,  our 
Diocese  is  not  prepared.     We  ask  : 

2.  For  no  relief  to  our  Diocese  at  the  expense  of  any  of  the  rights  of  our 
Bishop. 

_  Without  presuming  to  indicate  the  views  of  the  Diocese,  or  of  any  por- 
tion of  it,  on  questions  involved  in  the  trial  of  our  Bishop,  such  questions 
being  foreign  to  the  duty  at  present  devolved  upon  us,  we  do  not  hesitate 
to  say  that  there  is  one  principle  by  which,  since  the  termination  of  the 
trial,  our  Diocese  has  been  governed ;  and  that  is,  to  do  nothing  which 
would  either  increase  or  diminish  the  legal  force  and  effect  of  the  sentence. 
Duty  to  tho  authority  which  pronounced  the  sentence  has  forbidden  the 
one,  and  duty  to  him  who  suffers  the  sentence  has  forbidden  the  other; 
and  in  the  equal  discharge  of  both  duties  we  have  sought  to  abide  by  the 
penalty,  the  whole  penalty,  and  nothing  but  the  penalty.  The  lawful  force 
of  the  penalty,  however,  allows  and  requires,  that  the  subject  of  it,  in  the 
event  of  its  expiration,  shall  be  possessed  of  all  the  canonical  rights  which  he 
had  before  its  infliction.  To  solicit  or  instigate  any  infraction  of  the  pen- 
alty would  be  an  act  of  contempt  to  the  tribunal  which  awarded  it:  to 
solicit  or  instigate  any  measure  which  would  involve  a  forfeiture  of  rever- 
sionary rights,  or  lessen  the  chance  of  their  recovery,  would  be  an  act  of 
bad  faith  and  injustice  to  the  suspended  Bishop  :  and  as  no  past  act  of  our 
Convention  has  cast  disrespect  on  the  Court,  so  none  has  given  us  reason 
to  believe  that  a  measure  which  would  aim  to  relieve  the  Diocese,  at  the 
expense  ofthe  rights  of  the  Diocesan,  would  meet  the  wishes  of  the  Diocese, 
or  receive  its  active  concurrence. 

But  the  guidance  of  the  General  Convention  in  this  matter  is  not  mere- 
ly negative.  It  has  legislated  positively  in  view  of  our  case,  and  its  legis- 
lation embraces  two,  and  only  two  provisions  available  to  our  relief.     Of 

8 


114  NARRATIVE    OF    EVENTS. 

these  the  one  empowers  your  body  to  "altogether  remit  and  terminate 
any  judicial  sentence  which  may  have  been  imposed;"  and  the  other  to 
••modify  the  same  so  as  to  designate  a  precise  period  of  time,  or  other  spe- 
cific contingency,  on  the  occurrence  of  which  such  sentence  shall  utterly 
cease  and  be  of  no  further  force  or  effect."  The  former  provision  author- 
izes you  to  grant  an  instant  and  unconditional  remission  of  the  penalty 
under  consideration  ;  and  it  authorizes  you,  also,  it  is  believed,  as  a  House 
of  Bishops,  to  review  the  proceedings  of  the  Court,  and,  should  you  see 
fit,  to  rescind  its  sentence:  while  the  latter  provision  invites  us  to  the 
more  moderate  course  of  praying  you,  without  raising  a  question  on  the 
proceedings  of  the  Court,  to  assign  to  the  penalty  the  limit  which  the  sen- 
tence has  failed  to  express.  It  is  also  worthy  of  note,  as  indicating  more 
precisely  the  intention  of  the  General  Convention,  that  the  latter  provision 
is,  while  the  former  is  not,  adapted  to  the  case  of  our  Diocese  alone,  ex- 
clusively of  all  other  Dioceses  now  and  forever.  For  your  body  will  be 
forever  liable  to  be  called  on  to  remit  and  terminate  a  judicial  sentence  ; 
but  you  are  not  now,  nor,  inasmuch  as  every  future  sentence  of  suspension 
must  contain  its  own  limitation,  will  you  ever  hereafter  be  moved,  as  a 
House  of  Bishops,  to  limit  a  suspension  in  the  case  of  any  other  Diocesan 
than  the  Bishop  of  New-York. 

Guided,  then,  by  the  Supreme  Authority  of  the  Church,  and  by  the  res- 
olution under  which  we  address  you,  which  point  to  one  and  the  same 
specific  measure  of  relief,  we  come  now,  Right  Reverend  Fathers,  dis- 
tinctly to  prefer  our  prayer  :  which  is,  that  in  consideration  of  the  suffer- 
ings of  our  Bishop  and  Diocese,  under  a  sentence  of  suspension  Avhich  has 
no  declared  limit,  you  would  proceed  in  virtue  of  3'our  power  under  the 
second  Canon  of  1847,  to  declare  the  limit  of  the  penalty  by  the  designa- 
tion of  an  early  day  on  which  the  penalty  shall  cease,  and  be  of  no  further 
force  or  effect. 

We  ask  for  a  limitation,  instead  of  a  remission,  because  a  limitation  of 
the  penalty  provides  for  its  exhaustion.  "When  the  limit  of  the  penalty 
under  consideration  shall  have  been  defined  by  competent  authority,  and 
that  limit  shall  have  been  reached,  the  whole  amount  of  punishment  de- 
creed by  the  Court  will  have  been  suffered ;  and  the  honor  of  the  Court 
and  of  the  Church  will  have  been  amply  vindicated. 

We  ask  for  a  limitation  of  time,  instead  of  condition,  because  : 

1.  A  limitation  of  time  is  a  direct  and  effectual  method  to  secure  the  de- 
sired relief;  and  the  same  reasons  which  move  us  to  pray  for  relief,  move 
us  also  to  pray  for  the  adoption  of  such  a  measure  of  relief  as  is  direct  and 
effectual,  in  preference  to  any  other  which  is  indirect  and  uncertain.  Be- 
cause : 

2.  A  condition  involving  the  merits  of  the  case,  when  the  case  is  not  to 
be  rejudged,  ought  in  equity,  we  think,  to  be  declared  by  no  other  tribunal 
than  that  which  declared  the  sentence.  That  tribunal,  however,  is  no 
longer  in  existence  ;  and  if  it  were,  there  is  no  harshness  in  supposing  that 
in  the  interval  of  nearly  six  years,  events  may  have  transpired  which  it 
would  desire  to  take  into  consideration  in  any  new  action  involving  the 
merits  of  the  case.  The  House  of  Bishops  have  the  power,  indeed,  to 
modify  the  sentence  by  annexing  to  it  a  condition  of  this  nature  ;  but  we 
respectfully  submit  to  their  consideration,  whether  a  condition  which 
could  have  been  justly  inserted  in  the  sentence,  might  not  now,  after  the 
lapse  of  nearly  six  years'  patient  and  submissive  endurance,  operate  as  an 
aggravation  of  the  penalty  ;  and  whether  it  would  not  be  in  effect  to  re- 
affirm the  decision  of  the  Court  without  granting  the  suspended  Bishop 
the  benefit  of  a  rehearing.     And  because : 


NARRATIVE    OF    EVENTS.  115 

3.  A  condition  not  involving  the  merits  of  the  case,  unless,  indeed,  it 
were  merely  nominal,  would  have  the  effect  cither,  1.  To  peril  a  funda- 
mental principle  of  our  Church,  and  the  sacred  rights  of  our  Diocesan: 
or,  2.  To  take  the  ultimate  determination  and  issue  of  the  penalty  from 
your  venerable  body,  with  whom  Ave  desire  to  leave  it,  and  make  it  de- 
pendent on  contingencies  less  favorable  to  the  peace  and  tranquillity  of 
the  Church. 

But  that  our  motives  in  this  particular  may  not  bo  misunderstood,  we 
bog  to  assure  you  of  our  distinct  and  unwavering  conviction  that,  as  re- 
spects thesubjoct  of  this  penalty,  all  the  ends  contemplated  by  a  condi- 
tional limitation,  will  have  been  attained  in  the  fulness  of  their  spirit.  lie 
has  borne  His  protracted  sufferings  with  the  most  patient  and  dutiful  sub- 
mission; and  whatever  opinions  he,  in  common  with  others,  may  have 
honestly  entertained  on  abstract  questions  deeply  affecting  his  interests, 
he  has  led,  beyond  question,  from  the  time  he  was  so  unhappy  as  to  incur 
the  displeasure  of  his  brethren,  a  most  devout,  guarded,  and  exemplary  life. 
It  must  be  understood,  however,  Right  Reverend  Fathers,  that  we  ap- 
proach you  on  this  present  occasion,  not  as  partizans  of  the  suspended 
Bishop,  but  as  representatives  of  the  Diocese.  In  all  that  we  have  depre- 
cated, and  in  what  we  have  solicited  at  your  hands,  we  have  been  swayed 
by  no  other  motives  than  by  those  which  we  have  frankly  avowed.  Ulterior 
purposes  do  not  enter  into' our  present  application.  Questions  of  a  mere 
personal  bearing  have  had  no  power  either  to  draw  us  to,  or  to  turn  us 
from,  the  point  of  our  request.  To  this  we  have  been  led,  as  we  believe, 
solely  by  the  general  legislation  of  the  Church,  by  the  dictates  of  immuta- 
ble justice  and  equity,  and  by  the  spirit  of  the  instructions  under  which  we 
act— all  which  have  concurred  to  fix  our  minds  on  the  specific  measure 
which  we  have  urged,  as  the  only  one  by  which  the  desired  relief  cau  be 
equitably  and  honorably  attained. 

It  is  duo  to  you,  also,  that  we  here  state,  with  entire  frankness,  what 
we  suppose  to  bo  the  precise  effect  of  this  measure  which  we  ask  you  to 
adopt,  and  the  relative  responsibility  devolved  by  it  on  your  venerable 
body  and  on  our  Diocese. 

The  immediate  and  necessary  effect  of  the  limitation  and  consequent 
expiration  of  the  penalty  will  be,  we  apprehend,  simply  to  reinstate  our 
Bishop  in  the  full  possession  of  his  rights  of  office  and  jurisdiction  by  re- 
moving alHegal  let  or  impediment  to  their  exercise.  The  actual  perform- 
ance of  Episcopal  services  in  the  Diocese,  may  or  may  not  be  consequent 
on  the  expiration  of  the  penalty,  but  will  not,  we  apprehend,  be  its  imme- 
diate and  necessary  effect.  As  matters  now  stand,  every  avenue  to  relief 
is  closed ;  the  penalty,  while  it  operates,  presenting  an  impassable  barrier 
of  indeterminate  duration,  not  only  to  the  full  communication  of  our  Dio- 
cese with  any  other  Bishop,  but  to  all  communication  of  the  Diocese  with 
its  own  Bishop.  But  if  the  penalty  be  limited,  the  immediate  and  neces- 
sary effect  of  the  limitation,  when  the  limit  shall  have  been  reached,  will 
be,  Ave  suppose,  simply  to  bring  the  Bishop  into  living  connection  with  his 
Diocese,  and  to  put  both  Diocese  and  Diocesan  in  a  capacity  to  unite  and 
co-operate  in  the  adoption  of  measures  for  the  common  good. 

And  in  this  effect  we  recognize  the  line  which  divides  the  responsibilitv 
of  your  venerable  body  from  that  of  our  Diocese. 

On  this  point,  we  would  have  it  considered,  that  the  suspension  of  a 
Diocesan  Bishop  is  a  punishment  Avhich  the  Church  has  decreed.  It  Avas 
decreed  by  the  General  Convention  of  1841,  and  again  decreed  by  the  Gene- 
ral Convention  of  1844.  Your  own  House,  also,  in  1844,  adopted  a  Cmon, 
which  provided  that,  "  In  case  of  the  limited  suspension  of  any  Bishop, 


116  NARRATIVE   OF   EVENTS. 

the  Standing  Committee  of  any  Diocese  of  such  suspended  Bishop  may 
apply  to  the  Bishop  or  Bishops  of  this  Church  to  perforin  Episcopal  duties 
within  such  Diocese  ;;;  and  the  House  of  Clerical  and  Lay  Deputies  also, 
although  it  did  not  concur  in  the  Canon,  yet  adopted  the  section  of  it 
which  contains  the  ahove  provision,  expunging  only  the  word  limited,  on 
the  ground,  as  is  believed,  that  .suspension  is,  in  its  own  nature,  a  limited 
penalty.  In  view  of  all  this,  it  was  further  enacted  in  1847,  that  cverv 
suspension,  that  of  a  Diocesan  Bishop  included,  hereafter  indicted,  shall 
be  limited.  This  repeated  action  shows  that  the  whole  subject  has  been 
distinctly  and  maturely  considered.  Now,  it  is  hardly  to  be  expected 
that  the  penalty  of  suspension  should  work  itself  out  on  any  Diocesan 
Bishop  without  rendering  a  portion,  and  possibly  a  largo  portion,  of  his 
Diocese  averse  to  the  reception  of  his  services;  such  a  consequence  is 
natural  and  too  obvious  to  have  escaped  attention  ;  but  the  Church  has 
decreed,  notwithstanding,  that,  on  the  expiration  of  the  penalty,  the  Bishop 
and  his  Diocese  shall  again  be  brought  into  active  connection.  The  infer- 
ence which  we  draw  from  this  is,  that  all  ulterior  questions,  all  beyond 
the  immediate  and  necessary  effect  of  limitation,  are  to  bo  settled  by  the 
Bishop  and  Diocese  between  themselves.  The  supreme  authority  of  the 
Church  inflicts  the  punishment,  guards  it  in  its  progress,  and  brings  it  to 
an  end,  and  there  leaves  the  parties  more  immediately  concerned  in  it  to 
take  care  of  themselves.  A  Bishop  and  Diocese,  on  coming  together  again 
after  such  an  interruption  of  their  intercourse,  must  expect  to  contend 
with  some  difficulties  and  perplexities  ;  but  the  cure  for  these  evils  would 
seem  to  be  in  local  and  Diocesan  regulations,  and  not  in  the  higher  and 
more  general  authorities  of  the  Church.  It  may  be  that  the  state  of  the 
Diocese  will  be  such  as  to  render  the  voluntary  retirement  of  the  Bishop 
from  his  charge  desirable  for  his  own  peace  and  the  good  of  the  Church; 
or  it  may  be  deemed  expedient  that  the  Bishop  should  give  the  Diocese 
the  benefit  of  his  counsel  and  general  supervision,  but  refrain  from  the 
visitation  of  parishes  ;  or,  again,  it  maybe  thought  best  that  ho  should 
visit  some  parts  of  his  Diocese  in  person,  while  the  visitation  of  other  parts 
should  be  delegated  to  another  Bishop.  It  is  impossible  to  predict,  with 
any  degree  of  precision,  what  the  state  of  a  Diocese,  in  such  an  event, 
would  be,  or  what  measures  would  be  best  adapted  to  promote  its  peace 
and  welfare.  But  be  the  difficulties  of  the  case  what  they  may,  as  the 
Church  did  not  need  to  be  particularly  informed  of  them  before  she  pre- 
scribed limitation  in  every  case  in  which  a  Diocesan  Bishop  shall  be  sus- 
pended, so  it  cannot  be  necessary,  in  the  present  instance,  to  press  them 
on  your  attention.  The  Church,  in  her  collective  capacity,  has  assumed 
that  the  limitation  of  the  penalty  is  the  point  at  which  her  immediate  re- 
sponsibility ceases  and  that  of  the  Diocese  begins;  and  if  the  evils  natu- 
rally consequent  on  such  an  event  have  not  deterred  her  from  making 
limitation  the  universal  rule,  they  will  be  of  no  force,  we  apprehend,  to 
deter  your  venerablo  body  from  applying  the  equity  of  this  rule  to  the 
particular  case  under  consideration.  The  Church  herself  has  placed  that 
confidence  in  every  Diocese  as  to  suppose  that,  when  an  emergency,  such 
as  is  here  contemplated,  shall  arise,  it  will  be  able  to  cope  with  its  diffi- 
culties in  the  spirit  of  wisdom  and  charity;  and  wo  trust  that  you.  Right 
Reverend  Fathers,  have  no  reason  to  withdraw  from  the  Diocese  of  New- 
York  that  confidence  which  the  General  Convention  has  reposed  i:>  her,  in 
common  with  other  Dioceses.  Let  the  equitable  provisions  of  the  General 
Convention  take  their  natural  course,  and  we  fear  no  evils  which  may  not, 
by  Goo's  blessing,  be  averted,  and  made  to  redound  to  the  welfare  of  the 
Church,  and  to  furnish  new  proofs  of  her  stability. 


NARRATIVE    OF    E  VENTS.  117 

"Wo  find  ourselves,  Right  Reverend  Fathers,  addressing  you  under  very 
remarkable  oircamstances.  We  had  supposed  that  the  benefits  of  the 
Episcopacy,  subject  only  to  such  temporary  interruptions  as  are  caused 
by  vacancies,  had  been  secured  to  us  forever;  and  we  have  been  taught  to 
bo  thankful  to  Divine  Providence  for  the  blessing,  and  to  hold  in  honor 
tho  names  of  the  great  and  good  men,  now  gono  to  their  rest,  through 
whoso  pious  labors  and  sacrifices  it  was  obtained.  But  wo  now  find  our- 
selves deprived  of  this  blessing  by  an  interruption  which  has  no  limit,  and 
the  end  of  which,  unless  your  venerable  body  shall  declare  it,  no  human 
foresight  can  predict.  Wc  had  supposed  that  tho  rights  and  liberties  of 
every  member  of  our  Church  were  secured  by  law,  and  not  left  dependent 
on  the  will  of  arbitrary  and  irresponsible  power;  and  wo  have  rejoiced 
iu  the  confidence  which  this  security  imparts.  But  we  now  find  our- 
selves, in  a  matter  involving  the  rights  and  liberty  of  a  Bishop  of  tho 
Church,  and  the  rights  and  welfare  of  a  Diocese  which  numbers  its  clergy 
by  hundreds,  and  its  communicants  by  thousands,  thrown  entirely  on  your 
mercy,  suiug  for  what  wo  believe  to  be  a  simple  act  of  justice,  without  a 
Canon  to  enforce  our  suit,  and  before  a  tribunal  which  may  grant  or  re- 
fuse our  prayer  of  its  own  mere  pleasure,  and  on  its  responsibility  to  God 
and  its  conscience  alone.  In  this  most  extraordinary  position  wc  have 
two  sources  of  consolation.  The  first  is;  that  of  all  our  confederated 
Churches,  tho  Church  of  New-York  is  alone  in  this,  state  of  dependence, 
and  that  all  are  now  shielded,  by  express  canonical  provisions,  from  simi- 
lar privations  in  future.  The  other  is,  that  a  power  so  dangerous  and 
capable  of  abuse  in  unworthy  hands,  is,  in  the  present  instance,  vested  in 
the  Order  of  Bishops,  and  in  members  of  that  Order  who  belong  to  the 
Protestant  Episcopal  Church  in  the  United  States  of  America.  These  con- 
siderations go  far  to  reconcile  us  to  our  position,  because  they  assure  us 
that  the  power  at  whose  disposal  wc  are  placed,  and  whose  interposition 
we  invito,  will  be  exercised  in  tho  spirit  of  wisdom  and  clemency,  "not 
for  destruction,  but  for  salvation — not  to  hurt,  but  to  help,"  and  under  a 
duo  sense  of  responsibility  to  the  great  Shepherd  and  Bishop  of  Souls. 

In  conclusion,  we  beg  to  assure  you,  Right  Reverend  Fathers,  of  our 
sincere  and  fervent  wishes  for  your  health  and  prosperity  in  Christ  Jesus 
our  Lord. 

On  behalf  and  by  order  of  the  Standing  Committee  of  the  Diocese  of 
New-York. 

William  Berrian,  D.  D.,  President. 

Benjamin  I.  Haight,  D.  D.,  Secretary. 

New-York,  September  19,  1850. 


The  foregoing  Address  was  adopted  at  a  meeting  of  the  Standing  Com- 
mittee of  the  Diocese  of  New-York,  duly  convened,  on  Thursday,  the  19th 
day  of  September,  A.  D.  1850,  and  ordered  to  be  transmitted  to  the  Right 
Reverend  the  Bishops  of  the  Protestant  Episcopal  Church,  at  their  meet- 
ing in  Cincinnati,  on  Tuesday,  the  1st  day  of  October. 

(Attest),  Benjamin  I.  Haight,  Secretary. 

New-York,  September  25,  1850. 


118  NARRATIVE    OF    EVENTS. 

REPLY  OF  THE  BISHOPS. 

Ho 

Cincinnati,  October  12th,  1850 


House  of  Bishops,  > 

"50.  f 


Rev.  William  Berrian,  D.  D., 

President  of  the  Standing  Committee  of  the  Diocese  of  New-York: 
Riv.  and    Dear    Sir:    Agreeably    to    instructions    of    the    Bishops    in 
Council,  I  have  the  honor  to  transmit  to  you  the  accompanying  Report 
and  Resolutions.     The  Resolutions  were  passed  by  the  Bishops  in  Council, 
Friday,  October  11th,  1850. 

Yours  very  respectfully, 

George  1).  Gillespie,  Secretary  pro  tem. 

The  Committee,  to  whom  was  referred  the  papers  relating  to  the 
Diocese  of  New-York,  and  the  case  of  its  suspended  Bishop,  beg  leave 
respectfully  to  report : 

That  they  have  had  the  same  under  consideration.  These  papers  con- 
sist of  a  resolution,  adopted  by  the  Convention  of  New-York  in  1849  ;  of  a 
memorial,  drawn  up  and  adopted  at  a  meeting  of  its  Standing  Committee, 
regularly  convened  in  the  city  of  New- York,  September  19th,  1850,  solicit- 
ing a  modification  or  remission  of  the  sentence  pronounced  by  the  Court  of 
Bishops  upon  the  Right  Rev.  B.  T.  Onderdonk;  and  of  two  memorials,  the 
one  numerously  signed  by  individuals,  the  other  from  the  Rector,  Wardens, 
and  Vestry  of  St.  George";s  Church,  in  the  city  of  N ew-York ;  both  praying 
this  body  not  to  restore  the  suspended  Bishop  to  the  exercise  of  his  Epis- 
copal functions,  and  especially  to  the  exercise  of  jurisdiction  in  the  Diocese 
of  New-York.  .  . 

In  none  of  the  memorials  is  immediate  restoration  asked  tor,  nor  is  it 
implied  that  it  is  the  general  wish  of  the  Diocese  that  the  suspended  Bishop 
should  again  become  its  active  head.  On  the  contrary,  it  is  distinctly  inti- 
mated in°the  memorial  of  the  Standing  Committee,  that  the  remission  of 
the  sentence  might  not  be  sufficient  to  enable  the  suspended  Bishop  to 
resume  his  visitations,  but  might  necessarily  be  followed  by  his  abstaining 
permanently  from  them,  or  by  the  resignation  of  his  jurisdiction,  to  which 
resignation  "he  has,  in  the  opinion  of  your  Committee,  ever  been  competent; 
and°whatever  doubts  may  have  been  entertained  on  this  point  by  eonie 
others,  must  now  be  removed  by  the  Canon  passed  at  this  session  of  the 
General  Convention,  making  special  provision  for  such  a  case.  Still  the 
Standing  Committee  argue,  that  a  limitation  of  the  penalty,  by  the  desig- 
nation of  an  early  day  on  which  the  penalty  shall  cease,  and  be  of  no  fur- 
ther force  and  effect,  is  the  only  measure  of_  relief  which  is  consistent  with 
sound  principles,  or  likely  to  afford  full  satisfaction. 

It  will  be  remembered  that,  so  far  as  the  Diocese  is  concerned,  an  appli- 
cation for  relief,  from  what  was  termed  its  anomalous  position,  was  made 
to  the  General  Convention  of  1847,  by  the  Diocesan  Convention  of  New- 
York;  and  that  at  the  same  session  application  was  made  by  the  Right  Rev. 
B.  T.  Onderdonk  to  the  Bishops,  praying  that  they  would  open  the  way 
for  his  personal  relief  from  the  sentence  of  suspension,  under  which  he  was 
laboring. 

In  answer  to  the  first  of  these  applications,  as  well  as  out  ot  regard  to 
high  considerations  of  duty  and  expediency,  the  General  Convention  of 
1847  did  enact  three  Canons  (known  as  Canons  2,  3,  and  4,  of  the  General 
Convention  of  1847),  which  would  compromise,  it  was  understood,  no  im- 
portant principle  maintained  by  anv  of  the  parties  interested,  and  which,  if 
fairly  tried,  might  be  expected  to  afford  to  the  Diocese  sufficient  relief  from 
the  difficulties  under  which  it  was  thought  to  labor. 


NARRATIVE    OF   EVENTS.  119 

To  one  of  the  most  important  of  these  Canons  (the  4th  of  1847),  no  refer- 
ence is  made  in  the  argument  of  tho  Standing  Committee;  there  has  been 
no  attempt,  it  is  believed,  to  secure  the  full  care  and  jurisdiction  of  a 
Bishop,  :is  provided  for  in  its  second  section;  and  the  Canon  itself  is  treated 
as  if  it  had  no  existence. 

The  Committee  conceive,  that  beforo  renewing  its  application  for  relief, 
tho  Diocese  ought  to  have  made  trial  of  the  means  already  provided, 
especially  as  they  are  means  which  were  adopted  on  the  basis  of  a  fra- 
ternal compromise,  and  which  were  understood  to  have  received  tho  con- 
currence of  the  representatives  of  that  Diocese  at  the  time. 

If,  however,  additional  legislation  shall  seem  good  to  the  wisdom  of  the 
General  Convention  now  assembled,  the  individuals  composing  the  Com- 
mittee will  cheerfully  co-operate  in  their  capacity  as  members  of  the  House 
of  Bishops. 

In  regard  to  the  suspended  Bishop  himself,  it  is  sufficient  to  remark,  that 
his  case  received  the  careful  and  anxious  consideration  of  his  brethren,  the 
Bishops  of  this  Church,  in  1847.  It  was  then  distinctly  declared  in  the 
Report  of  the  Committee,  that  in  the  absence  of  any  proof  or  even  allega- 
tion of  his  innocence,  of  any  profession  of  penitence,  and  of  any  sufficient 
evidence  that  the  penalty,  under  which  he  was  suffering,  was  inconsistent 
with  law  or  equity,  a  remission  ought  not  to  be  expected,  and  could  not  he 
allowed.  In  all  these  respects  the  position  of  his  case  remains  unchanged. 
The  Committee  are  therefore  at  a  loss  to  conceive  on  what  grounds  the 
Bishops  could  justify  themselves  in  fixing  any  precise  time  at  which  the 
force  and  effect  of  the  sentence  should  cease.  No  mere  lapse  of  time  can 
transform  guilt  into  innocence,  nor  make  him  worthy  to  exercise  the  office 
of  a  Bishop  in  the  Church  of  God,  who,  by  the  solemn  sentence  of  its 
highest  tribunal,  has  been  once  declared  to  be  unworthy. 

The  Committee,  in  conclusion,  propose  for  adoption  the  following  reso- 
lutions : — 

Resolved,  That  the  Standing  Committee  of  the  Diocese  of  New-York,  and 
the  other  memorialists,  have  leave  to  withdraw  their  memorials. 

Resolved,  That  a  copy  of  this  report,  and  the  accompanying  resolutions, 
be  transmitted  by  the  Secretary  of  this  House  to  the  Standing  Committee 
of  the  Diocese  of  New^York. 

(Signed), 

T.  C.  Brownell, 
John  H.  Hopkins, 
Alfred  Lee, 
J.  P.  K.  Henshaw, 
AlonzO  Potter. 

A  true  copy. 

(Attest). 

Geo.  D.  Gillespie,  Secretary  pro  tern. 

This  document,  and  the  proceedings  in  relation  to  it,  do  not  appear  in 
the  Journal  of  the  General  Convention — the  House  of  Bishops  having 
resolved  (see  Journal  of  1850,  pp.  101,  102),  to  provide  "a  Special  [secret] 
Journal  of  the  Proceedings"  of  the  Council  into  which  they  were  about  to 
resolve  themselves. 

It  will  be  observed  that  their  reply  to  the  Standing  Committee  was, 
characteristically,  based  upon  opposition  memorials,  outside  influences,  and 


120  NARRATIVE    OF    EVENTS- 

the  infallibility  of  the  original  judgment  of  the  Court.  No  comment  is 
required  in  this  place — the  ahle  article  from  the  pen  of  Dr.  Seabury,  on 
the  answer  of  the  Bishops  to  the  Memorial,  in  1847*(see  p.  101),  having 
effectually  disposed  of  the  arguments  here  repeated  respecting  the  Bishop 
himself. 

ACTION  OF  THE  GENERAL  CONVENTION  OF  1850. 

At  the  General  Convention  of  1850,  a  Canon  (see  Digest,  Section  6, 
Canon  13  of  Title  I.),  was  passed,  providing  for  the  election  of  a  Provisional 
Bishop,  who  should  exercise  all  the  power  and  authority  of  the  Bishop  of 
the  Diocese  during  the  suspension  of  such  Bishop,  and  who,  in  case  of  the 
remission  of  the  sentence  of  the  Bishop,  and  his  restoration  to  the  exercise 
of  his  jurisdiction,  should  perform  the  duties  of  Assistant  Bishop  prescribed 
by  Canon  VI.  of  1832,*  and  who,  in  all  cases,  should  succeed  to  the  Bishop 
on  his  death  or  resignation.  The  New-York  Deputies  (Rev.  Drs.  Sherwood, 
Higbee,  and  Seabury),  voted  against  this  Canon;  and  the  dissatisfaction  of 
the  Diocese  respecting  the  arrangement  may  be  gathered  from  the  fact 
that  the  Special  Convention,  called  for  the  purpose  of  taking  action  under 
it,  adjourned  without  being  able  to  accomplish  their  object. 

The  Rev.  Dr.  Creighton  was  elected  by  the  Convention  of  1851,  but  he 
afterwards  declined.  In  1852,  the  Rev.  Dr.  "Wainwright  was  elected,  and 
consecrated  November  10th,  of  the  same  year.  He  departed  this  life  on 
the  21st  of  September,  1854 •  and,  at  the  next  meeting  of  the  Convention, 
the  Rev.  Dr.  H.  Potter  was  elected  to  succeed  him  in  the  Provisional  ad- 
ministration of  the  Diocese. 


*  This  Canon  provides  that  "  the  Assistant  Bishop  shall  perform  such  Episcopal  duties,  and 
exercise  such  Episcopal  authority  in  the  Diocese,  as  the  Bishop  shall  assign  to  him." 


^xnpst)a  Cifnl  Suit.' 


In  the  year  1853  a  layman  of  the  Church  in  this  city  employed  counsel, 
who  prepared  an  elaborate  Opinion,  designed  for  trial  before  a  civil  court, 
with  a  view  to  ascertain  the  right  of  Bishop  Onderdonk  to  the  full 
amount  of  the  salary  provided  for  his  office,  as  well  as  to  test  the  validity 
of  (he  sentence  of  suspension  passed  upon  him,  a  cpjestion,  by  the  way,  of 
grave  importance;  for,  surely  no  American  citizen  should  rest  satisfied 
with  the  present  organization  of  Ecclesiastical  Courts,  whose  so-called 
judicial  proceedings,  based  as  they  frequently  are  upon  the  rancor  of 
strife  aud  party  feeling,  oftentimes  convert  the  court  itself  i«to  an  instru- 
ment of  persecution;  and,  as  a  general  thing,  are  much  more  likely  to  re- 
sult in  tyranny  and  oppression  and  in  damage  to  the  State,  than  in  any 
good  to  society,  or  the  Church. 

It  is  no  trifling  illustration  of  what  we  say,  that  the  House  of  Bishops 
have,  since  the  sentence  was  passed  upon  Bishop  Onderdonk,  acknowledged 
their  proceedings,  as  an  ecclesiastical  court,  to  have  been  hasty  and  ille- 
gal ;  and  that,  too,  with  special  reference  to  their  action  in  regard  to  the 
case  of  Bishop  Onderdonk.  We  allude  to  the  passage  of  the  Canon 
against  themselves,  to  the  effect  that  such  a  thing  as  a  sentence  of  indefi- 
nite suspension  shall  never  again  be  inflicted  upon  a  minister  of  the 
Church.  To  do  this,  to  acknowledge  the  wrong,  and  yet  withhold  relief 
from  the  injured  party,  whose  pitiable  case  demanded  action  against  the 
further  invasion  of  individual  rights,  affords  additional  evidence' of  the 
danger  to  be  apprehended  from  what  we  must  again  designate  as  a  bur- 
lesque on  judicial  proceedings  of  ecclesiastical  bodies.  The  Church 
should  not,  by  injudicious  legislation,  deprive  individuals  of  civil  rights, 
if  she  would  have  her  tribunals  unmolested  by  the  civil  arm.  Neither 
ought  she  to  expect  that  when  she  sees  her  faults  and  mends  her  legislation! 
but  withholds  mercy  and  justice  from  the  subject  of  her  acknowledged 
error,  that  she  will  continue  to  grow  in  favor  with  her  Divine  Head.  And, 
if  the  Church  would  look  lovely  in  the  eyes  of  her  children,  she  must 
do  justly  and  love  mercy;  in  short,  she  must  follow  the  example  of  her 
Lord. 


222  NARRATIVE   OF  EV  ENTS. 

This  Opinion,  which  was  not  published  until  September  29,  1859, 
throws  much  valuable  light  upon  important  points,  some  of  which,  after 
so  many  years  of  quiet  submission,  have  come  to  be  but  little  understood, 
and  some,  though  not  the  least  of  which,  have  never  received  the  slightest 
public  attention— the  case  having  never  been  tried.  The  Opinion  con- 
cludes with  these  words  : 

"  On  the  whole,  I  am  satisfied  that  the  sentence  in  question  has  become 
inoperative — has  long  since  performed  its  office.  That  the  construction 
which  has  been  given  to  that  sentence,  as  imposing  and  continuing  disa- 
bilities upon  the  Bishop,  was  erroneous.  That  by  virtue  of  the  Canon_  of 
1844,  a  penalty  and  punishment  not  before  authorized,  could  not  be  im- 
posed for  offences  or  acts  prior  to  that  year.  That  the  contract  made  by 
this  Diocese  with  the  Bishop,  was  binding,  and  was  not  affected^or  rendered 
invalid  by  the  suspension;  and  that  the  Bishop,  in  proceeding  to  enforce 
his  rights,  would  be  performing  a  duty,  and  would  be  doing  the  Church  a 
real  service  by  settling  a  matter  now  held  in  doubt  and  uncertainty." 

After  its  submission  to  such  men  as  Horace  Binney,  Esq.,  of  Philadel- 
phia, Chief  Justice  Jones,  of  this  city,  Judge  Redfield,  of  Vermont,  and 
others  no  less  distinquished,  the  Opinion  was  returned  by  each  and  all  of 
them  with  unqualified  approval  and  assurance  that  the  Bishop's  applica- 
tion to  the  Court  for  relief,  by  virtue  of  a  writ  of  mandamus,  could  not 
fail  to  accomplish  the  end  in  view.  In  laying  the  Opinion  before  the 
public,  the  editor  of  The  Churchman  says : 

"  "We  now  present  the  readers  of  The  Churchman  with  an  interesting 
leal  document,  which,  though  written  some  years  since,  has  never  before 
seen  the  light.  There  need,  however,  be  no  apology  offered  for  exhuming 
this  paper.  Its  marked  ability  and  striking  application  to  the  present 
position  of  our  aged  Diocesan,  as  well  as  the  vital  interests  of  the  points 
discussed,  to  the  State,  the  Church,  and  to  every  individual,  have  secured 
for  it  a  large  share  of  our  columns,  and  will  warrant  an  attentive  and 
wide-spread  perusal. 

'•  It  would  be  unkind  in  us  not  to  say  that  Bishop  Onderdonk  has  no 
knowledge  whatever  of  our  intention  to  publish  anything  concerning  this 
matter.  Indeed,  wc  risk  little  in  saying  that  he  is  unapprised  of  the  fact 
that  the  papers  in  relation  to  the  proposed  case  have  been  preserved,  and 
are  now  in  our  possession,  nor  do  we  hesitate  to  express  the  conviction, 
that  if  he  had  been  consulted  about  their  publication,  his  natural  instincts 
would  have  prompted  the  sturdiest  resistance  to  the  same. 

"  After  saying  thus  much,  and  printing  the  reply  of  the  Bishop  to  his 
disinterested  friend  (who  projected  the  movement  and  submitted  the  case 
to  him,  all  prepared  at  his  own  risk  and  cost),  we  cannot  but  hope  that 
the  grounds  of  his  refusal  to  accept  the  proffered  aid,  and  make  the  con- 
templated application  to  the  Supremo  Court,  will  not  only  elevate  him  in 
public  estimation,  but  will  serve  to  check  in  some  degree  those  unfavorable 
ebullitions  of  feeling  now  beginning  to  manifest  themselves  in  the  public 
prints,  touching  the  restoration  of  this  afflicted  prelate  to  the  exercise  of 
his  official  duties  in  the  Diocese  with  which  he  stands  connected,  and  from 
which  it  is  impossible  for  him  to  separate  himself  without  the  commission 
of  an  act  involving  official  suicide,  and  fraught  with  danger  to  the  Church. 


NAKUATI  VE  OF  EVENTS.  123 

The  restoration  of  Bishop  Onderdonk,  however  worthy  ho  may  bo  consid- 
ered, is  by  HO  means  a  personal  matter.  Tho  interests  of  the  Diocese  are 
paramount  to  every  other  consideration,  and  this  view  is  well  stated  in 
the  following  reply  to  the  Bishop's  letter ;  and,  bo  far  as  its  Division  is 
concerned,  the  Diocese  is  hound  hand  and  foot.  It  cannot  ho  divided 
without  his  consent;  and  this  he  cannot  give,  in  its  present  anomalous 
position. 

"  But  for  the  puhlication  of  what  has  been  so  carefully  prepared  and 
designed  lor  trial  before  a  civil  court,  it  would  not  appear,  as  it  should, 
what,  strong  assurances  the  Bishop  has  had,  and  what  weighty  reasons  for 
believing  that  the  proposed  application  for  relief  would  bo  success- 
ful; and  yet,  after  prayerful  consideration,  to  see  it  all  overruled  by  him 
in  a  spirit  of  self-sacrificing  submission  and  love  of  peace — such  a  state 
of  things,  we  say,  is  quite  enough  to  inspire  us  with  just  such  generous 
impulses  and  feelings  which  seem  to  have  moved  the  hearts  of  those  who 
participated  in  the  present  (1859)  benevolent  enterprise  of  Restoration. 
Bearing  this  in  mind,  the  reader  will  tho  better  appreciate  the  following 
letter  from  the  Bishop,  declining,  as  above  stated,  to  be  made  a  party  to 
the  prosecution." 

LETTER  FROM  BISHOP  ONDERDONK. 

Franklin-street,  September  15,  1853. 

My  Dear  Mr. ;  As  the  time  seems  to  have  arrived  when  it  is  proper  for  me  to 

say  whether  I  am  willing  to  become  an  appellant  to  a  civil  tribunal  against  the  Eccle- 
siastical sentence  under  which  I  have  so  long  suffered,  I  feel  compelled,  after  long, 
deep,  and  serious  reflection — such  as  the  solemnity  of  the  case  required,  and  such,  I 
humbly  hope,  as  behooves  a  Christian  who  recognizes  his  dependence  upon  a  Higher 
Power,  and  the  necessity  of  His  inspiration  and  guidance — to  inform  you  That  I  can- 
not, at  present,  regard  such  an  appeal  as  my  duty.  You  who  know  exactly  how  tho 
case  has  stood  between  us,  willnot,  I  am  sure,  impute  blame  to  me  for  my  delay  in 
doing  so,  nur  consider  my  decision  as  disappointing  any  expectation  which  I  have 
justified  you  in  forming. 

Before,  however,  proceeding  to  state  the  reasons  for  this  conclusion,  I  must  indulge 
the  expression  of  my  deep  and  grateful  sensibility  to  the  disinterested  and  generous 
friendship  and  kindness  toward  me  which  the  subject  has  elicited  from  you.  For  this 
I  shall  ever  bo  thankful.  It  strengthens  the  claim  you  have  long  had 'to  my  respect 
and  affection.  That  God  may  bless  you  for  it,  will  always  be,  as  it  has  been,  my 
earnest  prayer. 

Some  tilings  are  duties  under  all  circumstances,  because  they  are,  in  themselves, 
morally  binding.  Some,  not  having  this  abstract  moral  character,  become  duties  only 
under  certain  circumstances.  Under  others,  they  are  either  indifferent,  or,  perhaps, 
wrong.  The  Bible,  the  only  genuine  code  of  morals,  is  to  furnish  our  rule  of  judgment 
in  the  matter. 

It  does  not  appear  from  that  sacred  volume,  that  going  to  law,  even  in  a  righteous 
cause,  is  a  duty  iu  itself.  Indeed,  as  far  as  my  memory  serves,  the  onlv  direct  refer- 
ence to  that  procedure,  in  the  counsels  of  the'New  Testament,  are  rather  adverse  to 
it.    (See  1  Corinthians,  vi.  1-7.) 

When  I  add  that  the  Bible  is  full  of  strong  commendation  and  requirement  of  long- 
suffering  and  non-resistance,  as  Christian  duties,  I  by  no  means  wish  to  be  considered 
as  supposing  that  it  condemns  resisting  and  seeking  redress  as  always  wrong.  They 
may  often  be  right,  and  sometimes  a  duty.  Clearly,  however,  it  'is  also  true  that 
the  path  of  duty  sometimes  lies  in  the  direction  indicated  by  St.  Paul,  when  he  says, 
"  Why  do  ye  not  rather  take  wrong." 

Going  to  law,  _  even  to  remove  an  unquestionable  wrong,  or  gain  an  unquestion- 
able right,  is  or  is  not  a  duty,  according  to  the  circumstances  of  the  case.  The  cir- 
cumstances of  the  present  case  are  such,  that  after  the  deepest  and  most  anxious  con- 
sideration of  them — deeper  and  more  anxious  because  of  my  thorough  conviction  that 
the  end  proposed  is  an  entirely  righteous  one — I  cannot  see  that  I  ought  to  accede 
to  your  very  kind  and  disinterested  proposal. 

A  preliminary  difficulty — one,  however,  that  would,  of  itself,  be  by  no  means  power- 
ful— is  the  irresistible  repugnance  I  have  always  felt  to  clerical  strifes  about  salary, 
and  to  bringing  ecclesiastical  matters  before  the  civil  courts.     I  can  readilv  conceive 
however,  that  there  may  be  occasions  requiring,  and  circumstances  justifying  such  things. 


124 


NARRATIVE  OF  EVENTS. 


la  a  case  so  entirely  new  to  me,  and  on  which  I  feel  myself  incompetent  to  form 
an  intelligent  opinion  by  my  own  unaided  judgment,  I  naturally  think  of  those  learned 
in  the' law,  enlightened  and  experienced  in  judicial  matters,  and  well  versed  in  eccle- 
siastical matters,  who,  for  years,  have  favored  me  with  their  counsels,  sympathy,  and 
co-operation  in  things  relating  to  the  Church.  Gratefully  acknowledging  the  kind 
and  efficient  interest  which  my  valued  friend  has  taken  in  the  case,  and  the  favor- 
able opinion  of  making  the  appeal  which  he  has  expressed,  I  find,  nevertheless,  that 
my  friends  have  very  generally  entertained  views  unfavorable  to  it.  This  cannot  but 
have  weight  with  me. 

Among  such  of  the  clergy  as  have  touched  upon  the  subject,  the  most  that  I  have 
found  has  been  cold  acquiescence,  amounting,  in  one  or  two  cases,  to  as  cold  approval ; 
rather,  however,  as  a  desperate  measure,  than  one  in  itself  desirable. 

And  this  opens  a  view  of  the  case  to  which  few  circumstances  could  induce  me 
to  refer,  except  the  just  claim  which  you,  my  valued  friend,  have  upon  me  for  a 
frank  and  ingenuous  avowal  of  the  reasons  which  compel  me  to  decline  the  import- 
ant and  solemn  step  on  which  your  heart  has  been  so  long  and  so  kindly  set. 

I  cannot  shut  out  tho  obvious  consideration,  that  the  contemplated  appeal  would 
involve  me  in  a  kind  of  action,  or  rather,  perhaps,  class  of  actions,  and  in  thoughts, 
cares,  and  states  of  mind,  entirely  foreign  from  my  natural  inclinations  and  cherished 
habits;  and  which  I  cannot  contemplate  without  great  repugnance.  Nor  is  it  to  be 
doubted  that  the  resulting  excitements  in  the  Church  and  the  community,  would  bo 
often  very  vexatious  and  mortifying.  In  the  disquietude,  perhaps  depression  of  mind, 
very  likely  to  be  the  consequence,  I  trust  I  may  be  pardoned  for  saying  that  I  should 
greatly  need  the  solace  and  support  of  a  refuge  in  the  earnest  and  affectionate  sym- 
pathy "of  m}'  clerical  brethren  around  me.  It  may  be  a  weakness ;  but  so  it  is,  that, 
shut  out  as  I  am,  from  the  ordinary  resources  of  society,  and  of  the  chosen  and  be- 
loved occupations  of  the  Holy  Ministry,  I  feel  more  and  more  my  dependence  on  those 
best  of  human  consolations  "and  supports,  which  flow  from  the  experience  of  tha 
intelligent,  generous,  and  proved  sympathy  of  those  about  us  whom  we  esteem  and 
love.  I  do  not  now  see  reasonable  ground  of  confidence  that  I  should  be  /ktts  sustained 
and  encouraged.  This  painful  remark  has  not  reference  simply  to  the  point  now  in 
hand.  It  is  prompted  also  by  experience  of  a  wider  range — there  being,  however, 
cases  of  exception  for  which  I  feel  warmly  and  affectionately  thankful. 

Under  all  the  circumstances  of  the  case,  I  confess  I  feel  an  irrepressible  repugnance 
to  the  idea  of  being  drawn  before  the  public  in  a  new,  and,  to  me,  particularly  dis- 
tasteful way. 

It  hurts  me  much,  my  dear  friend,  to  fear  that  this  decision  will  greatly  disappoint 
you;  bflt  I  trust  you  know  me  too  well  to  allow  it  to  be  also  displeasing.  Few  sub- 
jects have  ever  occupied  my  mind  more  seriously  and  solicitously ;  and  my  conclusion 
has  been  reached  honestly,  sincerely,  and  in  the  fear  of  God. 

It  would  be  unjust  in  itself,  as  well  as  inconsistent  with  the  promptings  of  my  heart, 
to  close  without  expressing  my  respectful  and  grateful  sense  of  the  ability  and  excel- 
lence of  the  Legal  Opinion  of" Mr. ,  with  the  perusal  of  which  you  favored  me. 

Commending  you  to  God's  blessing,  and  asking  your  prayers  that  I  may  be  sus- 
tained and  guided  by  His  grace  in  the  multitude  of  the  difficulties  and  trials  which  lie 
in  my  path,  and  that  He  will  overrule  them  all  to  His  glory,  and  my  spiritual  good, 

I  am,  my  dear  Mr.  . , 

Affectionately  and  truly  yours, 

Benjamin  T.  Onderdonk. 

REPLY. 

New- York,  October  4,  1853. 
To  the  Right  Rev.  Benjamin  T.  Onderdonk  : 

Dear  Sir The  severe  and  dangerous  sickness  of  several  members  of  my  family  has 

prevented  an  earlier  response  to  your  communication  of  the  15th  of  September  last. 

I  have  perused  the  document  with  deep  interest,  and  have  seriously  pondered  the 
decision  it  announced,  fortified  as  it  is  with  the  highest  authority  known  to  the  Church. 

Viewed  as  a  merely  personal  matter,  your  resolution  to  take  wrong,  and  suffer  your- 
self to  be  injured,  is  worthy  the  character  of  tho  Bishop  of  the  most  important" Dio- 
cese in  the  New  World,  and  must  challcngo  tho  admiration  of  every  Christian.  So 
far  as  the  subject  is  a  private  concern  between  tho  Bishop  and  his  persecutors,  it 
seems  to  lie  directly  within  the  scope  of  the  Apostle's  admonition,  which  you  so  appo- 
sitely quote. 

Your  ablo  support  of  the  position  has,  in  some  degree,  modified  my  previous  view 
of  the  case.  Bat  I  have  ever  looked  at  the  question  from  a  higher  and  more  com- 
manding stand-point,  one  from  which  the  individual  sufferer  appeared  as  the  victim 


NARRATIVE  OF   EVENTS  125 

of  a  high  handed  injustice,  inflicted  in  (lie  name  of  the  Church,  and  originating  in  a 
conspiracy  which  seemed  utterly  reckless  of  the  consequences  to  the  cause  of  Christ 
and  His  Church,  if  it  could  but  accomplish  the  destruction  of  the  object  of  its  hate. 

[saw  thai  il  was  the  Church  which  was  Buffering,  when  her  institutions  were  made 
the  instruments  of  wrong-doing.  By  the  usurpation  ami  injustice  which  decreed  tli>; 
indefinite  suspension  of  our  Bishop,  the  subject  is  taken  out  of  Si.  Paul's  category,  ami 
placed  on  a  higher  ground  than  even  the  injunction  of  an  Apostle — tin:  establishment 
of  equity  and  justice.  The  appeal  to  our  civil  tribunals  for  the  vindication  of  rights 
which  had  been  set  at  naught  in  the  name  of  the  Church,  ought  not,  to  be  considered 
aa  going  to  law  before  "unbelievers, "'  which  seems  to  have  been  a  principal  objection 
in  the  mind  of  the  Aposlle.  Besides,  our  judges,  though  far  from  being  perfect,  are 
douhtless  superior  to  those  before  whom  the  primitive  brethren  preferred  their  com- 
plaints. 

Notwithstanding  the  importance  I  attach  to  the  establishment,  through  the  civil 
courts  of  our  country,  of  the  principles  contended  for  in  the  legal  document  submitted 
to  your  inspection,  still  I  feel  bound  to  abide  by  the  decision  you  give,  which  seems  to 
have  been  made  up  with  care  and  in  a  Christian  spirit ;  yet  the  welfare  of  the  .Church 
was  assailed  in  overwhelming  the  rights  of  its  Bishop,  and  however  much  the  individual 
holding  the  office  for  the  time  being  might  regret  an  appeal  to  the  civil  tribunals,  and 
be  willing  to  sillier  wrong,  I  still  believe  that,  in  his  representative  character  as  Bishop, 
he  should  defend  the  rights  entrusted  to  his  care  in  the  only  way  that  the  defence  could  be 
made.  In  the  present  case,  such  a  proceeding  would  be  important  to  the  well-being  of 
the  Church  ;  but  a  time  may  arrive,  and  circumstances  concur,  when  not  only  the 
unity,  but  also  the  very  existence  of  the  Church,  might  depend  on  the  decision  of  a 
point  like  that  proposed  for  settlement,  by  the  court. 

An  intelligent  community  could  easily  be  made  to  appreciate  the  difference  between 
a  merely  personal  matter,  and  the  stern  requirements  of  official  duty.  The  evil  ex- 
ample would  bo  relinked,  and  a  vicious  precedent  nullified.  And,  even  if  an  adverse 
decision  should  lie  rendered,  of  which  I  have  not  the  least  fear,  the  attempt  to  vindi- 
cate undoubted  rights  could  not  but  have  a  salutary  influence,  while  it  would  not  be  the 
first  righteous  cause  that  failed  to  receive  a  verdict  in  its  favor. 

That  you  may  have  a  continuance  of  that  strength  of  mind  and  reliance  on  God, 
that  have  so  well  sustained  you  thus  far  in  your  affliction,  is  my  earnest  prayer.  Ever 
cherishing  as  I  have  the  warmest  friendship  for  you,  from  the  day  of  my  Confirmation 
at  your  hands  to  the  present  hour, 

I  remain,  Ri^ht  Rev.  Sir, 

Your  obedient  servant, 


ui   Mnitmtut 


FOR      TH  E 


RESTORATION    OF    BISHOP    ONDERDONK, 


PRELIMINARY  MEASURES. 

The  decease  of  Bishop  Onderdonk  has  invested  with  melancholy  and 
peculiar  interest  the  last  effort  for  the  removal  of  his  sentence.  It  will  not 
be  out  of  place,  therefore,  to  record  the  proceedings  of  those  who  had  the 
matter  in  hand,  and  thus  preserve  the  facts  connected  with  their  laudable 
but  unsuccessful  efforts  to  remove  a  dark  spot  from  the  page  of  American 
Ecclesiastical  History. 

At  the  meeting  of  the  Board  of  Missions,  in  October,  1858,  the  subject 
of  the  restoration  of  Bishop  Onderdonk  was,  by  God's  good  Spirit, 
suggested  to  the  mind  of  the  Rev.  Dr.  Hawks,  who,  upon  inquiry,  be- 
came satisfied  that  so  desirable  an  end  was  possible.  He  thereupon 
caused  certain  proposals  to  be  made  to  the  Bishop,  respecting  the  prepa- 
ration of  a  Memorial  to  the  House  of  Bishops.  This  was  accomplished  a 
few  months  afterwards,  through  the  agency  of  the  Bishop's  friends,  Dr. 
Hawks,  having,  as  he  said  in  the  Diocesan  Convention,  neither  seen  the 
Bishop  nor  had  any  communication  with  him  during  the  fourteen  years  of 
his  suspension,  save  once,  and  then  casually.  At  the  request  of  Bishop 
Onderdonk,  Dr.  Hawks  made  a  sketch  of  what  he  considered  an  appro- 
priate Memorial,  which  was  substantially  approved  by  the  Bishop. 
This  rough  draft  was  afterwards  rend  by  Dr.  Hawks  to  several  clerical 
brethren,  and  also  to  the  Right  Rev.  Dr.  Potter,  the  then  Provisional 
Bishop,  when,  with  one  exception,  all  expressed  themselves  gratified  with 
the  state  of  mind  exhibited  by  the  tone  of  the  document.  Bishop  Onder- 
donk then  prepared  a  Memorial  to  the  House  of  Bishops  (based  upon 
the  original  sketch),  which  is  given  on  the  following  page. 


NARRATIVE   OF   EVENTS.  127 


BISHOP  ONDERDONlvS  MEMORIAL. 

To  the  Right  Reverend  the    Bishops  of  the  Protestant  Episcopal  Church 
in  the    United  States  of  America: 

Brethren: — Fourteen  years  have  elapsed  since,  by  the  Canonical  ac- 
tion of  an  Ecclesiastical  Court  of  Bishops,  [  was  suspended  from  the  office 
of  a  Bishop  and  from  all  tho  functions  of  the  Sacred  Ministry.  To  that 
sentence  I  have  quietly  submitted,  and  now  present  myself  before  you, 
respectfully  to  ask  for  its  remission.  In  making  this  rerpicst,  I  deem  it 
right,  before  God  and  man,  frankly  and  truly  to  lay  before  you  the  present 
state  of  my  feelings,  and  the  grounds  on  which  I  ask  the  removal  of  the 
penalties  under  which  I  suffer. 

In  the  excitement  of  feeling  consequent  on  my  trial  and  sentence,  it  was 
natural  that  much  should  be  said,  on  both  sides,  that  in  the  more  dispas- 
sionate moments  of  calm  Christian  judgment  would  afterwards  be  re- 
gretted and  disclaimed.  You  will,  however,  brethren,  permit  me  to  say 
that  deeply  aggrieved  as  I  felt  at  the  time,  by  a  sentence  which  I  thought 
to  be  unduly  severe,  I  have  yeb  no  recollection  of  having  endeavored  to  jus- 
tify my  own  view  by  attributing  to  my  brethren  unworthy  motives.  If  tho 
feelings  of  any  of  them  have  been  hurt  by  the  supposition  that  I  had  in  this 
way  done  them  injustice,  I  sincerely  regret  it,  and  hope  that  I  maybe  par- 
doned for  any  expressions  which  may  have  been  supposed  to  bear  such  a 
construction.  I  censure  them  not  for  upholding,  as  they  believed,  the  honor 
of  the  Church,  by  the  administration  of  discipline  when  they  conscien- 
tiously thought  it  was  deserved.  I  should  very  little  deserve,  brethren, 
what  I  solicit  at  your  hands,  if  I  were  ready  at  once  to  acknowledge  all 
the  crimes  which  may  have  been  imputed  to  me  by  enemies,  and  to  pro- 
fess penitence  for  that  of  which  I  am  really  not  guilty.  I  cannot  consent 
^o  purchase  even  restoration  at  the  price  of  falsehood  and  hypocrisy. 

And  yet,  I  presume  not  to  say  that  I  am  entirely  faultless,  and  have  de- 
served no  censure.  I  am  not  exempt  from  human  infirmity,  and,  in  the 
calmer  reflections  to  which  the  lapse  of  time  has  contributed,  I  ac- 
knowledge that  I  cannot  but  believe  parts  of  my  conduct  to  have  betrayed 
indiscretion,  and  that  my  demeanor  must,  in  some  instances,  have  been  cal- 
culated to  produce  impressions  injurious  alike  to  the  Church  and  myself, 
however  such  effect  may  have  been  unintended  and  unperceived  on  my 
ptrrt.  I  say  that  I  cannot  but  believe  this,  because  some  of  my  fellow- 
Christians,  and,  among  them,  some  of  yourselves,  brethren,  felt  bound  to 
this  extent  to  condemn  me.  I  beg  you,  however,  to  believe  me,  when  I 
most  solemnly  declare  that,  in  this  matter,  I  was  not  the  slave  of  deliberate 
impurity  of  intention. 

But  be  my  offences  small  or  great,  to  whatever  extent,  brethren,  I  have 
brought  reproach  on  the  cause  of  our  Master,  or  given  just  offence  to 
any  of  my  fellow-Christians,  even  without  a  purposed  intention  of  wick- 
edness, I  am,  without  reference  to  j'our  action  on  this  request,  heartily 
sorry,  and  desire  to  humble  myself  in  penitence  before  God  and  man.  I 
can  say  truly,  and  I  thank  God  for  it,  as  I  now  do,  without  any  reference 
to  man  or  his  doings,  that  I  have  long  endeavored  to  live  in  a  state  of 
habitual  repentance  for  all  my  sins,  known  and  unknown,  and  have  dailv 
sought  forgiveness  for  them,  from  the  mercy  of  God,  for  the  sake  of  His 
Son  Jesus  Christ. 

I  have  borne  the  sentence  imposed  on  me  with  bitter  anguish,  I  con- 
fess, and  a  painful  sense  of  humiliation,  but  without  murmuring  or  com- 
plaint, and  with  constant  and  earnest  prayer  for  the  pardon  of  all  my  sins, 


128  NARRATIVE  OF  EVENTS. 

and  grace  for  amendment.  Of  the  effect  of  this  repentance  on  the  hidden 
man  of  the  heart,  there  is  hut  one  Judge.  Of  its  effects  on  my  outward 
life,  there  are  those  who  can  speak  with  more  propriety  than  myself.  And 
herein  I  am  hold  to  refer  you  not  only  to  those  who  have  heen  generally 
considered  as  my  friends,  but  to  those  also  of  a  different  class.  Those  who 
have  known  me  will,  I  humbly  trust,  bear  me  witness,  that  ever  since  the 
sentence  has  been  imposed,  my  life  has  been  quiet,  my  doings  unobtrusive, 
and  my  conduct,  as  a  member  of  Christ's  Church,  not  liable  to  reproach. 

I  now  beg,  Christian  brethren,  the  mercy  of  a  removal  of  my  sentence. 
So  far  as  the  honor  of  the  Church  is  involved,  I  have  hoped  that  all  would 
see  it  had  been  amply  vindicated  by  fourteen  years  of  punishment,  borne  in 
silence  and  seclusion,  and  that  Christians,  knowing  the  object  of  ecclesiasti- 
cal punishment  to  be  reformatory  and  not  vindictive,  would  willingly  see  the 
Church,  after  vindicating  her  purity,  exercise  her  blessed  privilege  of 
showing  mercy  by  restoring  a  brother  whom  she  had  once  felt  obliged 
to  blame  and  rebuke,  rejoicing  mor.e  over  his  happy  return  than  over  the 
"ninety  and  nine  which  went  not  astray."  Brethren,  if  any  man  be  over- 
taken in  a  fault,  ye  which  are  spiritual,  restore  such  an  one  in  the  spirit  of 
meekness  ;  considering  thyself,  lest  thou  also  be  tempted. 

I  need  not  say  how  deeply  my  heart  is  interested  in  the  object  of  this 
application — what  a  painful  and  oppressive  burden  would  bo  removed 
from  it,  and  with  what  joy  and  gladness  it  would  be  filled,  if,  before  the 
short  remainder  of  my  life  has  passed,  1  would  be  again  allowed  the  hap- 
piness which,  for  so  many  years  was  imparted,  of  exercising  the  functions 
of  the  Holy  Ministry.  Look,  brethren,  into  your  hearts ;  consider  their 
loves  of  the  duties  of  our  office,  and  then  judge  ye. 

Of  the  consequences  of  my  restoration,  should  you  grant  it,  I  have  little 
to  say.  You  would  very  justly  despise  me  if,  for  the  sake  of  enforcing 
this,  my  application,  I  should,  on  this  subject,  volunteer  promises  concern- 
ing my  action  in  the  Diocese  of  New- York.  All  I  can  say  is,  however, 
that  age  and  suffering  have  done  their  work  on  me,  and  that  I  hope  I  am 
humble  enough,  and  know  that  I  am  sincere  enough  in  my  love  of  the 
Church  of  Christ,  never  wantonly,  by  any  act  of  mine,  to  disturb  its  har- 
mony or  obstruct  its  progress.  Beyond  this  I  can  say  nothing  without 
seeming  to  seek  clemency  by  gratuitous  offers,  disrespectful  towards  you 
and  unworthy  of  myself. 

My  application,  brethren,  is  now  before  you.  May  God,  for  Christ's 
sake,  dispose  you  to  view  it  favorably.  Believe  me,  that  I  but  express 
the  sentiment  of  my  daily  prayer  for  my  brethren  in  the  Episcopate,  when 
I  conclude  with  the  Apostle's  words:  "Mercy  unto  you,  and  peace,  and 
love  be  multiplied." 

In  the  spirit,  I  humbly  hope,  of  this,  my  heart's  desire  and  prayer  to 
God,  I  subscribe  myself  your  faithful  brother  in  Christ, 

Benjamin  T.  Onderdonk. 

This  Memorial  was  shown  by  Dr.  Hawks  to  Dr.  Tyng,  who  expressed 
his  willingness  to  sign  a  petition  advocating  the  prayer  of  the  Memorial- 
ist, provided  that  Bishop  Onderdonk,  although  still  retaining  jurisdiction, 
would  commit  the  administrative  portion  of  his  Episcopal  duties  to  Bishop 
Potter. 

The  next  day  (September  Cth,  1859),  Dr.  Tyng  received  a  note  inviting 
him  to  the  house  of  Bishop  Onderdonk,  at  which  he  was  "  astonished,"  as 
he  had  never  been  inside  the  Bishop's  house,  and  had  not  seen  him  but 


NARRATIVE   OF   EVENTS.  129 

twice  since  ho  had  hecu  in  the  Diocese.  An  interview,  however,  wan 
accordingly  had  between  the  Bishop  and  Dra.  Hawks  and  Tyng,  in  tlic 
presence  of  Dr.  Eigenbrodt,  when  Bishop  Onderdonk  agreed  to.  Sign  the 
following  letter,  to  he  sent  to  Bishop  Potter,  in  the  event  of  favorable 
action  by  the  Bishops  on  tho  preceding  Memorial  : 

BISHOP  ondkkDoNK's  LETTER  TO  BISHOP  POTTER. 

New- York,  Oct.  — ,  1859. 

Right  Rev.  and  Dear  Sir: — Tho  House  of  Bishops  having  responded 
favorably  in  my  prayer  for  a  remission  of  my  sentence  of  suspension,  their 
action  [daces  nie  in  the  position  of  Diocesan,  and  the  third  Canon  of  1850 
changes  your  relation  from  that  of  Provisional  to  Assistant  Bishop.  It 
hence  becomes  my  duty,  under  Canon  VI.  of  1832,  to  "  assign'-  (such  is  tho 
language  of  the  law)  to  you,  as  Assistant  Bishop,  the  Episcopal  duties  and 
exercise  of  Episcopal  authority,  which  I  desire  at  your  bands. 

I  therefore  lose  no  time,  my  dear  brother,  in  assigning  to  you — subject 
to  such  regulations  as  may  be  made  on  mutual  conference  between  our- 
selves— the  entire  possession  of  tho  administrative  portion  of  Episcopal 
duty  in  the  Diocese,  to  act  precisely  as  you  have  been  acting.  Your  faith- 
fulness a  :  1  zeal  I  know  full  well,  and  I  have  entire  confidence  in  your 
ability  a  id  disposition  to  do  wisely  and  well  in  the  general  administration 
of  the  Diocese;  and  I  am  thankful  that,  in  my  old  ngc,  I  have  such  a 
friend  and  colleague  as  yourself  on  whom  to  lean.  In  case' of  doubt  or  spe- 
cial importance  I  know  it  will  be  your  own  desire  to  have  tho  aid  of  such 
counsel,  as  upon  a  joint  consultation,  I  may  bo  able  to  give;  and  I  have 
only  to  s  iv  that  I  shall  be  ever  ready  to  give  such  services  as  I  can  in 
counsel,  and  in  every  way  to  co-operate  with  you  most  heartily  in  endeavor- 
ing to  promote  the  peace,  aud  advance  tho  prosperity  of  the  Diocese. 

At  my  advanced  age,  tho  heavier  duties  of  the  Episcopate  must  devolve 
on  you,  and  my  performance  of  Episcopal  acts  must,  of  necessity,  bo  less 
frequent  than  yours.  Hence,  I  authorize  you,  under  tho  Canon — subject 
as  before  stated — to  retain  the  entire  general  administration  of  the  Dio- 
cesan affairs  in  the  regular  routine,  including  tho  exercise  of  Episcopal 
Canonical  consent — when  such  consent  may  bo  required  ;  on  my  part, 
cheerfully  agreeing  to  confirm  and  ratify  such  consent  when  thus  exer- 
cised by  you,  it  being  my  heartfelt  desire  and  determination  that,  in  no 
case,  shall  there  ever  bo  any  difference  or  collision,  or  aught  but  harmony 
between  us  in  any  Church  matter  or  question.  For  myself,  I  propose  only 
the  performance  of  such  Episcopal  duties  as  on  our  mutual  conference  may 
be  deemed  expedient. 

I  am,  dear  Bishop,  very  truly  and  affectionately,  your  brother  in  Christ, 

Bknj.  T.   Onderdonk, 
Bishop  of  the  Diocese  of  New-York. 

Right  Rev.  Horatio  Potter,  D.  D.,  LL.D., 

Assistant  Bishop  of  the  Diocese  of  New-York. 

This  being  entirely  satisfactory,  the  petition  was  then  signed  by  Drs. 
Hawks,  Tyng,  Cutler,  and  many  others,  when  it  was  also  presented  to  the 
Rev.  Dr.  Anthon,  who  affixed  his  signature  thereto  on.  the  9th  of  Sep- 
tember. 

It  was  then  agreed  that  Dr.  Hawks,  Tyng  and  Anthon,  should  each  call 
ten  laymen  together  as  a  Committee  of  Consultation. 

9 


130  NARRATIVE   OF   EVENTS. 

Drs.  Hawks  and  Tyng  were,  in  the  meantime,  appointed  to  call  on 
Bishop  Potter,  and  lay  before  him  the  draft  of  the  letter  proposed  to  he 
sent  to  him  by  Bishop  Onderdonk,  and  confer  with  him  fully  on  the  sub- 
ject of  restoration.  Dr.  Anthon  soon  afterwards  withdrew  his  name  from 
the  petition,  asserting  as  his  reason  that  "  the  matter,  in  its  present  shape, 
did  not  provide  fully  and  effjctually  against  the  resumption  of  Bishop 
Onderdonk's  jurisdiction."*  The  Committee  of  Consultation  also  disagreed, 
and  Bishop  Potter,  as  appears  from  the  following  letter,  which,  at  his  re- 
quest, was  read  by  Dr.  Tyng  before  the  Diocesan  Convention,  declined 
having  anything  to  do  with  what,  to  him,  most  strangely,  seemed  to  par- 
take of  the  nature  of  a  "  private  bargain." 

BISHOP  POTTER'S  LETTER  TO  DR.  TYNG. 

New- York,  33  West  24th-street,  Sept.  23. 

My  Dear  Dr.  Tyng  : — When  you  and  Dr.  Hawks,  and  Dr.  Eigenbrodt, 
called  on  me  last  Monday,  to  state  what  had  occurred  in  relation  to  a  move- 
ment to  procure  the  remission  of  the  sentence  of  Bishop  Onderdonk,  and 
exhibited  to  me  the  Bishop's  Memorial  to  the  House  of  Bishops,  and  his 
letter,  ante-dated,  to  me,  you  desired,  apparently,  to  obtain  my  formal  assent 
to  what  seemed  to  be  in  the  nature  of  a  private  compact.  As  this  matter 
had  been  initiated  and  thus  far  conducted  without  consulting  me,  and  the 
particulars  were  then  so  new  to  me,  had  been  bo  entirely  private,  as  far  as 
I  was  concerned,  you  may  well  suppose  I  was  unprepared  with  an  an- 
swer. 

On  reflection,  my  judgment  is  clear.  I  have  duties  in  the  House  of 
Bishops  where  this  question  must  go,  which  should  not  be  complicated  by 
previous  arrangements  of  any  kind,  and  certainly  not  for  my  own  benefit ; 
besides,  I  can  never  consent  to  prejudge  an  official  question,  and  bind  my- 
self to  a  private  contract  on  a  matter  of  public  duty. 

I  confess  that  much  of  this  transaction  seems  to  me  to  be  in  the  nature  of 
a  private  bargain.  As  such  I  can  have  nothing  to  do  with  it.  It  is  con- 
trary to  the  whole  scope  of  our  ecclesiastical  system,  is  irregular  and  un- 
canonical.  The  position  in  which  that  bargain  seeks  to  place  me,  is  un- 
known to  the  Law  of  the  Church,  is  indefinite,  is  full  of  perplexity,  and 
must  inevitably  lead  to  confusion  and  wrangling.  Let  the  Church  do  sim- 
ply what  is  right  and  fitting  for  herself,  without  regard  to  me.  Let  my 
relations  with  the  Diocese  be  the  result  of  the  free  and  impartial  action  of 
the  authorities  of  the  Church.  If  it  be  desired  to  restore  Bishop  Onder- 
donk to  his  jurisdiction,  let  it  be  done,  and  let  me  take  the  place  of  an  As- 
sistant in  the  ordinary  sense,  the  full  power  and  responsibilities  of  the  ad- 
ministration and  public  offices  remaining  in  the  hands  of  the  restored 


■  Statement  read  by  the  R'v.  Dr.  Anthon,  at  the  Diocesan  Convention.  The  following  "note" 
appeared  in  the  New-York  Times : 

To  the  Editor  of  the  New-York  Times  : 

New- York,  Thursday,  Sept.  22,  1S59. 

Will  you  permit  me  to  state,  through  your  column?,  that,  being  satisfied,  upon  further  reflec- 
tion, that  the  peace  and'advancement  of  the  Diocese  require  the  resignation  of  Bishop  Onder- 
donk'b  jurisdiction  over  it,  previous  to  the  removal  of  his  suspension,  I  have  withdrawn  my 
name  from  the  petition  in  circulation. 

Respectfully  yours, 

Henry  Anthon. 


NARRATIVE   OF   EVENTS.  131 

Bishop.      Such  an  arrangement  would  bo  clear.      No  other  restoration  to 
jurisdiction  can  be. 

Most  faithfully  j'ours, 

Horatio  Pottjek. 
To  the  Rev.  Dr.  Tync. 

> 

It  will  be  borne  in  mind  that  the  Memorial  asked  for  unconditional  res- 
toration at  the  hands  of  tho  Bishops  of  the  Church.  This  alone  was 
what  Bishop  Ondcrdonk  desired.  This,  and  nothing  short  of  this,  he  felt 
was  due  to  himself,  to  his  Diocese,  and  to  the  Church  at  large.  Bishop 
Potter  would  thus  have  become  tho  Assistant  Bishop  of  the  Diocese  of  New- 
York,  and  it  would  then  have  been  tho  duty  of  the  Diocesan  to  "  assign" 
to  the  Assistant,  in  accordance  with  the  Canon,  such  portion  of  Episcopal 
duty  as  he  might  have  thought  proper,  still,  however,  retaining  jurisdic- 
tion. The  proposed  letter  to  Bishop  Potter  contained  such  assignment, 
and  for  the  satisfaction  of  some,  it  was  prepared  in  advance,  and  shown 
to  Bishop  Potter  for  the  purpose  of  assuring  him  that  no  "  difference  or 
collision"  could  ever  ©ccur  in  connection  with  the  arrangement.  Little 
was  it  expected  that  a  letter  thus  Cauonically  drawn  up  would  have  been 
stigmatized  and  condemned  as  a  "  private  bargain." 

Bishop  Potter  having  thus  set  himself  against  the  proposed  movement  for 
restoration,  the  enemies  of  Bishop  Onderdonk,  encouraged  thereby,  exerted 
themselves  to  the  utmost  to  overthrow  the  good  work,  and  so  far  succeeded 
as  to  cause  the  Bishop  to  withdraw  his  Memorial,  as  will  appear  from  the 
letters  which  follow  : 

BISHOP    ONDERDONK'S    FIRST    LETTER    TO    THE    REV.    DRS.    HAWKS, 

TYNG,  AND  EIGENBRODT. 

New-York,  September  25,  1859. 

To  the  Rev.  Francis  L.  Hawks,   D.  D.,  LL.D.,   the  Rev.  Stephen  H. 
Tyng,  D.  D.;  and  the  Rev.  William  E.  Eigenbrodt,  D.  D. 

Rev.  and  Dear  Brethren  : — In  reference  to  the  cordial  and  active  interest 
you  have  been  kind  enough  to  take  in  the  now  much  discussed  subject  of 
my  restoration.  I  beg  to  address  you  this  letter. 

It  is  a  matter  of  most  grateful  recollection  to  me  that  the  taking  of  that 
interest,  and  incipient  action  thereon,  were  without  any  prompting  or  sug- 
gestion, or  even  a  knowledge  of  the  fact  on  my  part,  but  the  result  of  }rour 
own  solemn  and  deliberate  convictions  of  what  was  right.  I  desire  also  to 
express  my  sensibility  to  the  delicate  and  respectful  manner  in  which, 
when  the  course  of  things  rendered  communication  and  conference  with 
me  proper  and  necessary,  these  were  conducted  by  you.  It  was  the  taking 
of  sweet  counsel  together  by  brethren,  on  matters  justly  regarded  by  each 
and  all  of  us  as  invested  with  much  sacredness,  and  deep  and  solemn  re- 
sponsibility. I  thank  you  for  the  truly  Christian  manner  in  which,  through- 
out the  whole,  you  recognized  my  peculiar  share  of  that  responsibility,  and 
the  respect  you  were  therefore  kind  enough  to  pay  Jo  my  judgment  and 
feelings.  The  natural  result  was,  that  the  issues  thus  attained  became 
fully  and  entirely  my  own  acts. 

It  has  been  to  me  a  source  of  holy  satisfaction  and  gratitude,  to  see  how 


132  NARRATIVE  OF   EVENTS. 

deeply  you  were  moved  by  conviction  of  Christian  duty,  and  a  desire  to  pro- 
mote the  good  of  the  Church,  and  serve  the  cause  of  its  peace  and  harmony  • 
ui'l  I  humbly  trust  that  therein  you  have  found  in  me  a  cordial  sympathizer 
and  co-worker. 

We  have  all  seen  enough  of  the  world  to  know,  that  in  practically  ap- 
plying the  principles  and  affection  of  love,  peace,  harmony,  and  good  order, 
and  of  attachment  to  truth  and  right,  especially  in  sacred  matters,  unlooked 
for  changes,  and  developments  of  circumstances,  require  correspondent 
changes  of  purpose — and  this  in  proportion  to  conscientious  convictions  of 
the  rectitude,  solemnity,  and  importance  of  the  object  desired.  I  beg  to 
say,  therefore,  brethren,  that  I  commit  to  your  discretion,  in  full  confi- 
dence, the  subject  of  the  propriety,  under  existing  circumstances,  of  arrest- 
ing all  proceedings  in  the  matter  in  band.  Should  you  think  this  the  proper 
course,  I  will  cheerfully  adopt  the  decision  as  my  own  also,  and  respect- 
fully request  the  return  of  such  papers  of  mine  as  may  be  in  the  possession 
of  Dr.  Hawks. 

Humbly  commending  you  to  the  blessings  of  God's  providence  and 
grace,  I  am, 

Rev.  and  dear  brethren, 

Truly  and  affectionately  yours, 

In  the  love  of  Christ  and  His  Church, 

Benj.  T.  Onderdonk. 

EEPLY  TO  THE  ABOVE. 

New-Yore,  September  25,  1859. 

Right  Rev.  and  Dear  Sir  : — We  have  to  acknowledge  the  reception  of  your 
private  and  friendly  note  of  this  morning.  When  we  assumed  the  position 
which  we  have  occupied  in  relation  to  your  application  for  a  remission  of 
the  sentence  of  suspension  imposed  upon  you,  we  did  it  with  our  own  per- 
fect satisfaction  with  the  expression  of  your  mind  and  feelings,  in  your 
Memorial  to  the  House  of  Bishops,  and  also  with  the  proposed  arrange- 
ments for  securing  peace  and  harmony  in  the  administration  of  the  Dio- 
cese, in  the  event  of  a  favorable  reply  to  the  prayer  of  the  Memorial  ;  and  ' 
Ave  have,  therefore,  carefully,  with  much  pleasure,  contributed  our  efforts 
to  the  attainment  of  the  result  desired.  On  these  points  our  individual 
minds  remain  unchanged.  In  those  arrangements  which  bad  been  pro- 
posed by  you  for  the  harmonious  administration  of  the  Diocese,  wo  hoped 
to  have  found  an  universal  concurrence  and  satisfaction.  This,  in  the  prose- 
cution of  our  efforts,  we  regret  to  say,  we  have  failed  to  obtain;  and  we 
have  encountered  difficulties 'which,  in  the  good  providence  of  God,  we 
hope  the  further  lapse  of  time  will  completely  overcome.  And  though 
our  minds  remain  unchanged  in  all  the  points  previously  referred  to,  we 
regret  to  say  that  we  are  constrained  to  adopt  the  suggestion  of  your 
note,  'committed  to  our  discretion,"  viz.  :  "the  propriety,  under  existing 
circumstances,  of  arresting  all  proceedings  in  the  matter  in  hand  ;''  and 
accordingly  comply  with  your  request  for  "  the  return  of  such  papers  of 
yours  as  may  be  in  the  hands  of  Dr.  Hawks,"  which  we  herewith  transmit. 

Wc  are,  with  most  affectionate  respect, 

Your  friends,  and  brethren  in  tbe  Ministry, 

*  Stephen  II.  Tyxg, 

Francis  L.  Hawks, 
William  E.  Eigenbrodt. 
Right  Rev.  B.  T.  ONRERnoNK. 


NAKRATi  v  ::  OF   EVENTS.  133 

BISHOP   ONDERDONKS   SECOND    LETTER  TO   THE  REV,  DRS.  HAWKS. 

TYMi,  AND  EIGENBRODT. 

New-YoiuCj  September  2&th,  1859. 

Rev.  and  Dear  Brethren  : — T  thank  you  for  your  note  in  reply  to  mine  of 
this  morning,  and  for  the  renewed  expression  of  your  kind  feelings.     The 

peace  of  the  Diocese  is  an  object  near  to  all  our  hearts.  In  reference  to 
the  bearing  on  this,  of  the  question  of  arresting,  under  present,  circum- 
stances, all  proceedings  connected  with  tho  Memorial  from  me  to  the 
Bishops  of  the  Church:  perceiving  by  your  note  that  you  arc  of  opinion 
that  this  course  would  he  judicious.  I  hereby,  according  to  my  promise, 
acquiesce  therein,  and  have  determined  to  act  accordingly.  Thanking 
you  for  the  return,  agreeahly  to  my  request,  of  my  papers  on  that  suhject, 
which  have  been  iu  the  possession  of  Dr.  Hawks,  I  am, 

Very  truly  and  affectionately  yours, 

Benj.  T.  Onderdonk. 

Rev.  Stephen  II.  Tyno,  D.  D., 

Bev.  Fkancis^L.  IIawics  D.  D.,  LL.D. 

Bcv.  William  E.  Eigenbrodt,  D.D. 

Tho  object  dear  to  tho  hearts  of  so  many  Churchmen  was  thus  apparent- 
ly abandoned.  But  God  raised  up  other  instruments  to  carry  forward  the 
work.  Tho  Bcv.  Dr.  Francis  Vinton,  on  hearing  that  the  Bishop  had  de- 
cided to  withdraw  his  Memorial,  called  upon  him  to  ascertain  the  truth 
of  tho  assertion.  The  following  letter  from  the  venerable  Prelate  contains 
his  answer  : 

BISHOP  ONDERDONK'S  FIRST  LETTER  TO  THE  REV.  DR.  VINTON. 

West  27th-st.,  September  21th,  1859. 

My  Dear  Dr.  Vinton  : — I  write  this  in  reply  to  your  question  put  to 
me  this  morning.  The  conversation  in  which  that  question  arose,  grew  out 
of  your  having  understood  that  I  had  now  determined  not  to  send  to  the 
Bishops  assembled  at  the  approaching  General  Convention,  a  Memorial 
praying  for  the  removal  of  my  suspension,  which  I  had  prepared  and 
placed  in  the  hands  of  a  clerical  brother  for  delivery  to  the  Bishops.  It 
was  stated  to  me,  a  few  days  ago,  by  this  brother  and  others  who  had  long 
cooperated  with  him  in  kind  and  earnest  spontaneous  labor  in  behalf  of 
the  object  of  that  Memorial,  that — although  their  views  of  the  subject 
were  precisely  what  they  had  been,  and  they  believed  and  hoped  that  the 
object  would  be  accomplished — yet  they  thought  that  just  now,  and  under 
existing  circumstances,  it  would  be  better  to  arrest  the  prosecution  of  that 
object,  and  that  the  proposed  Memorial  should  be  returned  to  me.  To 
this  I  assented,  in  consideration  of  their  having  been  so  long  engaged  in 
the  matter,  with  opportunities  far  greater  than  I  could  have,  of  forming 
an  intelligible  opinion  in  the  premises.  Hence  the  fact  of  their  proceed- 
ings being  arrested,  and  of  the  Memoi-ial,  a  copy  of  which  I  herewith,  at 
your  request,  send  to  you,  being  again  in  my  possession.  I  also  send  a  copy 
of  each  of  my  letters  to  these  brethren  on  this  subject,  of  their  reply  to  me, 
and  of  my  answer  to  the  latter.  In  immediate  reply  to  your  question,  I 
beg,  dear  Doctor,  to  say,  that  notwithstanding  this  state  of  things,  I  shall 
feel  myself  at  full  liberty,  and  regard  it  as  a  duty,  cheerfully  and  grate- 
fully to  forward  a  Memorial  to  tho  Bishops  for  a  termination  of  my  sus- 


134  NARRATIVE  OF   EVENTS. 

pension,  as  soon  as  I  have  satisfactory  evidence  of  such  being  the  kind 
wish  of  my  brethren  of  the  Diocese,  to  an  extent  entitling  it  to  compliance 
on  my  part. 

I  am,  dear  Doctor,  with  prayers  for  God's  spiritual  and  temporal  bless- 
ings upon  you, 

Yours,  truly  and  affectionately, 

Benj.  T.  Onderdonk, 
Rev.  Francis  Vinton,  D.  D. 

P.  S. — Much  having  been  said  and  published  respecting  a  note*  pro- 
posed by  me  to  be  sent  to  the  Provisional  Bishop  of  this  Diocese,  in  the 
event  of  the  Memorial  being  laid  before  the  Bishops,  and  favorably  acted 
on,  I  enclose  a  copy  of  it,  and  am  prepared  to  make  further  explanations 
respecting  it,  if  desired. 


THE  MOVEMENT  AT  MEETING  OF    THE   DIOCESAN  CONVEN- 
TION OF  1859.  t 

The  New-York  Diocesan  C  onvention  met  the  day  after  the  above  letter 
was  written,  when  the  Rev.  Dr.  Vinton  introduced  the  subject  of  the 
Bishop's  restoration.  He  briefly  reviewed  the  Canons  bearing  on  the  case 
of  the  Bishop,  and  showed  by  enactments  subsequent  to  the  trial,  that  no 
mortal  could  be  placed  in  the  painful  position  occupied  by  the  Bishop  of 
New-York.  He  also  argued  that  to  move  in  this  matter  was  no  prejudice 
to  the  Provisional  Bishop,  since  he  was  elected  under  a  Canon  which  ex- 
pressly provided  that  he  should  become  the  Assistant  in  case  of  the  restora- 
tion of  the  Principal,  who,  when  restored,  would  assign  to  the  Assistant 
such  duties  as  he  might  be  desired  to  perform. 

As  long  as  a  year  ago,  when  on  a  sick  bed,  Dr.  Vinton  heard  of  the  first 
beginning  of  this  movement,  and  he  believed  that  nothing  less  than  the 
Spirit  of  God  moved  the  heart  of  that  noble  brother  (Dr.  Hawk?),  who  had 
taken  the  matter  in  hand,  and  who,  at  the  meeting  of  the  Board  of  Missions, 
in  October,  1858,  found  reason  to  believe  that  the  restoration  of  Bishop 
Onderdonk  was  possible.  Dr.  Vinton  then  read  Bishop  Onderdonk's 
Memorial  and  the  proposed  letter  to  Bishop  Potter, f  assigning  to  him  the 
administrative  portion  of  Episcopal  duty.  After  which  the  Doctor  said} 
with  reference  to  the  reason  for  tho  withdrawal  of  the  papers,  "  It  was 
enough  to  say  that  opposition  had  been  made  in  high  quarters,  and  with 
such  earnestness  and  deep  feeling  as  manifested  in  communications,  in  news- 
papers, and  representations  made  by  clergymen  and  laymen,  that  the 
brethren  had  become  disheartened  at  the  misrepresentation  and  clamor." 
He  then  assured  the  Convention  that  it  would  be  perfectly  safe  to  relieve 
the  Bishop  from  a  sentence  which  he — and  now  he  alone  of  all  mankind — 
could  ever  suffer.  Ho  had  inquired  Bishop  Onderdonk's  age,  for  he  was 
now  an  old  man,  and  becoming  infirm,  and  his  heart  was  moved  within 


•  The  letter  referred  to  will  be  found  on  page  129.  t  Idem. 


NARK  A  T  I  V  I :    <  >  P    E  V  E  NTS.  1 35 

him  when  ho  found  that,  if  the  present  occasion  he  suffered  to  slip  by 
unused,  ho  would,  before  tho  arrival  of  another  General  Convention,  havo 
reached  the  full  ordinary  limit  of  human  life.  Under  these  circumstances, 
as  a  Churchman,  as  a  Christian,  ho  felt  that  he  could  not  decline  the  task 
which  he  was  now  imperfectly  discharging.  All  these  considerations 
camo  rushing  over  him,  and  his  decision  was  made,  irrevocably  made,  that 
he  would  stand  up  before  the  Convention  and  tell  them  this — tell  them 
calmly,  and  beg  them  to  act  without  passion. 

At  the  close  of  his  speech,  the  Rev.  Doctor  offered  the  following  resolu- 
tion, which  was  seconded  by  the  Rev.  Thomas  T.  Guion  : 

"  Resolved,  That  this  Convention  of  the  Diocese  of  New- York  do  hereby 
respectfully  request  the  House  of  Bishops  to  remit  and  terminate  the  Ju- 
dicial Sentence  of  Suspension,  under  which  the  Bishop  of  the  Diocese  of 
New-York  is  now  suffering  disability  ;  or  to  modify  the  same,  so  far  as  to 
designate  a  precise  period  of  time,  or  other  specific  contingency,  on  the 
occurrence  of  which  the  sentence  shall  utterly  cease,  and  be  of  no  further 
force  or  effect." 

Samuel  Freeman,  M.  D.,  then  moved  to  lay  the  resolution  on  the  table, 
but  being  earnestly  requested  to  withdraw  his  motion,  in  order  that  some 
explanations  might  be  made,  he  consented.  The  Rev.  Drs.  Hawks  and 
Tyng  then  made  statements  of  the  part  they  had  taken  in  the  movement. 
Dr.  Anthon  also  read  a  "  statement"  of  his  reasons  for  withdrawing  his 
name  from  the  Memorial. 

After  the  reading  of  Bishop  Potter's  letter  (see  p.  130)  by  the  Rev.  Dr. 
Tyng,  the  Bishop  remarked  that  he  had  nothing  to  say  upon  the  subject; 
he  was  willing  to  let  the  matter  stand  as  it  was.  The  brethren  had  made 
their  explanations,  and  he  thought  the  vote  ought  now  to  be  taken  upon 
the  motion  to  lay  the  whole  matter  on  the  table. 

The  meeting  then  adjourned  without  vote,  it  being  past  ten  o'clock  p.  m. 

On  Friday  morning,  September  30th,  after  some  preliminary  business, 

the  vote  was  taken  on  the  resolution  to  lay  on  the  table,  and  resulted  as 

follows : 

_.  Ayes.         Nays. 

Clergy 33  13S 

Laity 52  70 

Total 85  ~208 

So  the  motion  to  lay  on  the  table  was  lost. 

The  Hon.  Murray  Hoffman  then  moved  that  the  resolution  offered  by  the 
Rev.  Dr.  Yinton,  be  amended  by  striking  out  all  after  the  word  "  Re- 
solved," and  inserting,  so  that  it  shall  read  as  follows  : 

"  Resolved,  That  the  Remission  of  the  Sentence  of  the  Right  Rev.  Bishop 
Onderdonk  would  be  acceptable  to  this  Convention,  on  the  condition  that 
the  restrictions  upon  the  exercise  of  Episcopal  powers  and  offices  within 
this  Diocese,  set  forth  in  his  letter  to  the  Right  Rev.  Bishop  H.  Potter 
laid  before  this  Convention,  and  a  copy  of  which  is  hereto  appended   [p! 


136  NARRATIVE    OF  EVENTS. 

129],  be  annexed  to  the  same;  or  such  restrictions,  relating  to  the  exercise 
of  such  powers^  not  inconsistent  with  the  terms  in  such  letter,  as  the 
House  of  Bishops  deem  proper.'' 

The  Rev.  William  A.  McYiokar  moved  that  the  Hon.  Murray  Hoffman's 
proposed  amendment  he  amended  by  striking  out  all  after  the  word  "  Re- 
solved," and  inserting,  so  that  it  shall  read  as  follows  : 

"  Resolved,  That  the  Right  Rev.  the  Provisional  Bishop  of  the  Diocese  of 
New-York,  be  requested  to  lay  before  the  House  of  Bishops  the  papers 
upon  lhe  subject  of  the  Restoration  of  Bishop  Onderdonk,  viz.  :  A  .Memo- 
rial to  the  House  of  Bishops  from  said  Bishop,  and  an  ante-dated  letter 
from  said  Bishop,  which  have  been  read  before  this  Convention,  for  such 
action  thereon  as  the  House  of  Bishops,  in  their  wisdom,  may  deem  best." 

This  amendment  was  rejected  almost  unanimously;  and  after  some  dis- 
cussion as  to  the  bearing  of  Judge  Hoffman's  amendment,  the  Rev.  Dr. 
Vinton  accepted  it  as  a  substitute  for  his  own  resolution. 

The  Hon.  Samuel  B.  Buggies,  one  of  the  four  delegates  to  the  General 
Convention,  then  moved  that  the  resolution  of  the  Hon.  Murray  Hoffman 
be  amended  by  striking  out  all  after  the  word  "  condition,"  and  there- 
after adding,  so  that  it  shall  read  as  follows  : 

"  Resolved,  That  the  Remission  of  the  Sentence  of  Bishop  Onderdonk 
would  be  acceptable  to  this  Convention,  on  condition  that  he  deposit  in 
the  office  of  the  Secretary  of  the  House  of  Bishops,  a  full  resignation  of 
his  jurisdiction  as  Bishop  of  New-York." 

In  offering  this  amendment,  Mr.  Ruggles  expressly  stated  his  object  to 
be,  to  ascertain,  by  unmistakable  evidence,  the  wish  of  the  Diocese  on  this 
particular  point,  and  to  be  able  to  state,  on  the  best  authority,  whether  the 
Diocese  did,  or  did  not,  desire  Bishop  Onderdonk  to  retain  jurisdiction. 

Bishop  Potter  (rising) — May  I  appeal  to  the  gentleman  to  withdraw 
that  amendment  ? 

Mr.  Ruggles  then  withdrew  it;  but  hoped  the  Bishop  would  give  his 
reasons. 

Bishop  Potter — (visibly  affected) — My  reasons  are  very  simple  ;  1  don't 
like  to  state  them.  I  am  continually  hampered  and  restrained  about 
things  which  I  cannot  rightly  say,  because  of  a  consideration  of  what  will 
be  my  duties  in  another  place.  I  cannot  suffer  that  this  Convention,  over 
which  that  person,  of  whom  so  much  has  been  said,  once  presided,  should 
send  with  me  the  favor  which  they  ask  to  have  conferred,  accompanied  by 
a  request  for  his  resignation.  Do  not  stigmatize  him  by  any  expression  of 
that  kind.  I  confess  to  you,  gentlemen,  I  have  been  restrained  by  friends 
from  saving  what  f  would  have  liked  to  say  to  you,  and  I  am  not  going  to 
say  it  now.  I  do  feel  a  desire  to  say,  first  of  all,  that  when  I  sent  into  the 
Committee  that  had  called  on  me  at  the  last  moment,  my  objections  to  the 
arrangements  which  they  were  preparing,  those  objections  were  directed 
simply  to  the  essential  character  of  that  arrangement.     I  did  not  wish  to 


NAItl:  ATI  V  &   OF   EVENTS.  137 

putanyvetoon  the  Churoh  id  this  Diocese  if  they  desired  to  approach 
tho  House;  of  Bishops.     1  sim|  ly  wished  to  express  my  opinion  that  that 
measure  was  fraught  with  evil.     I  tell  you  that  that  is  a  mischievous 
movement  to  attempt  to  make,      An   arrangement  based  on  that  letter 
which  was  addressed  to  me,  you  will  find  hereafter  to  be  a  mischievous 
arrangement,  disturbing  (he  peace  of  thiB  Diocese,  and  more  embarrassing 
to  me  than  any  other  thing  you  could  do.     Nothing  do  1  cure  for  myself 
I  wish  to  make  no  personal  matter  of  an  affair  of  tins  kind.     Nothing  for 
persons.      Nothing  for  individual  pride.       Everything  for  right  :    every- 
thing  for   the    Church,  and   nothing  for   the   individual's   self.      1    would 
rather,  gentlemen,  that  you  should  restore  that  individual  to  jurisdiction 
untrammelled,  and  with  no  view  of  its  being  returned  to  me  hereafter.     I 
would  rather  you  would  not  expose  him  to  that  continual  sense  of  degra- 
dation than  to  place  me  in  the  situation  which  you  contemplated  in  that 
letter.     It  gives  me  ono  place  which  you  take  from  another.     You  send 
me  to  that  venerable  man,  who  has  been  suffering  for  fifteen  years,  to  tell 
me  to  dole  out  his  task.     Can  I  look  in  his  eyes  and  not  be  overcome  ?     I 
am  to  go  to  him  to  consult  with  him  :  is  there  any  doubt  where  the  con- 
trolling inlluence  is  to  come  from?     He  is  a  venerable  man  •  I,  inferior 
both  in  age  and  station.     You  load  mc  with  the  duties  of  a  principal,  and 
you  embarrass  me  by  making  me  a  subordinate.     You  make  two  centres. 
And  do  you  know  the  state  of  things  in  this  Diocese  ?     Do  you  know  the 
state  of  feeling  in  this   Diocese?     One  party  would  rally  round  one  cen- 
tre ;   another  would  rally  round  another.     Y'ou  would  create  a  state  of 
things  in  this  Diocese  worse  than  any  you  ever  saw  in  the  worst  days  of 
the  conflicts  in  regard  to  the  measures  that  have  gone  before  us.     I  say 
again,  I  cannot  pass  in  this  place  upon  the  great  measure  under  considera- 
tion.    That  must  go  elsewhere.     I  dare  say  many  of  you  may  have  ob- 
served that  on  the  first  day  of  this  Convention  I  took  no  part  in  the  morn- 
ing Services.     I  wished  to  be  alone.    I  wished  to  be  with  m}rself,  and  with 
I  lira  who  knows  all  hearts,  and  metes  out  justice  and  mercy      I  wished,  if 
possible,  to  find  out  my  duty  and  to  do  it,  and  my  spirit  was  bowed  down 
within  me  at  the  thought  that  this  man  was  to  pass  by  another  General 
Convention  ;  that  he  was  to  bo  elevated  to  heaven  by  his  friends,  and  cast 
down  as  from  a  rock,  in  humiliation,  and  overpowered  by  difficulties  and 
disappointments.     Every  step  of  my  way  as  I  attempt  to  address  myself 
to  you.  is  hedged  round  with  difficulties.     I  know  how  liable  I  am  to  be 
misconstrued,  and  I  desire  to  say  to  those  gentlemen  who  originated  this 
movement  that,  without  meaning  to  reflect  on  them,  I  feel  grieved  that  they 
had  not  an  opportunity  of  seeing  me  earlier,     I  am  sorry  that  they  thought 
it  necessary  to  wait,  when  one  day  would  carry  them  to  mc.  I  was  sorry  that 
they  thought  it  necessary  to  wait  till  they  got  sixty  names  of  my  brethren  to 
lay  before  me  as  a  sort  of  mild  persuasion,  nay,  something  which  to  some 
would  have  looked  like  an  attempt  to  intimidate.     If  I  go  to  Richmond — and 
I  would  much  rather  stay  away — they  will  find  in  me  no  enemy.     I  do  not 
know  what  discussion  will  open.     I  do  not  know  what  will  be  the  result  of 
evidence  and  examination.     May  be  I  am  to  act  there  as  a.  j  idge,  and  I 
cannot  say  beforehand  howl  shall  decide  a  case  that  has  not  yet  been  pre- 
sented to  mc  ;  but  I  say  I  am  conscious  in  myself  that  I  have  no  feeling 
but  what  is  fair.     I  care  nothing  for  personal  position,  but  I  do  care  much 
for  all  thoso  things  which   tend  to  harm,  and  for   all   those   things  which 
tend  to  efficiency  of  administration. 

At  the   close  of  this  speech,  Governor  King  rose,  and  in  a  loud  voice 
moved  that  the  Convention  adjourn  sine  die. 


138  NARRATIVE    OF    EVENTS. 

On  taking  the  question,  the  motion  was  lost  by  sound.  The  President 
said  it "  seemed  to  him  carried."  Objection  being  made,  and  he  being 
asked  whether  he  decided  ifc  to  be  "  carried,"  he  said,  '-No,  he  did  not 
so  decide  ;  but  he  thought  it  was  carried."  The  constitutional  call  was 
made  for  a  vote  by  orders;  but  the  President  decided  the  call  too  late, 
though  made  before  he  had  formally  announced  the  result  of  the  vote. 
He  declared  that  the  question  must  be  taken  by  ayes  and  nays.  [The  dif- 
ference will  be  seen  when  it  is  recollected  that  in  the  one  case  three  lay- 
men have  but  one  vote,  in  the  other  they  have  three  voices.]  Dr.  Vinton 
quoted  Article  VI.,  of  the  Constitution,  which  provides  that,  "  In  all  mat- 
ters which  shall  come  before  the  Convention,  the  clergy  and  laity  shall 
deliberate  in  one  body ;  and  in  voting  the  clergy  shall  vote  by  individuals 
and  the  laity  by  congregations/'  He  insisted,  therefore,  on  the  clergy  be- 
ing taken  first,  yea  and  nay,  and  then  the  lay  vote,  only  one  delegate  rising 
for  each  parish.     The  result  was  as  follows  : 

Ayes.  Nays. 

Cergy ..     48  W 

Congregations ; OJ  05r 


107  151 


So  the  motion  to  adjourn  sine  die  was  lost. 

After  further  discussion  and  motions  to  adjourn,  the  Hon.  Samuel  B. 
Ruo-gles  renewed  his  amendment  for  resignation  of  jurisdiction.  "  The 
Bishop's  case,"  said  Mr.  Ruggles,  "  concerns  not  only  this  particular  Dio- 
cese, but  the  whole  Church  of  the  United  States.  The  House  of  Bishops, 
representing  such  a  wide-spread  body,  would  necessarily  be  governed  by 
its  general  interests — but  would,  nevertheless,  listen  with  particular  re- 
spect to  any  recommendation  of  the  Diocese  particularly  affected.  It  was. 
therefore  eminently  desirable,  that  any  opinion  entertained  by  this  Diocese, 
and  particularly  on  a  point  so  fundamental  as  the  jurisdiction  of  the 
Bishop,  should  be  distinctly  expressed.  He,  therefore,  felt  it  his  duty  to 
press  for  a  vote  on  this  specific  amendment,  that  the  sense  of  the  Diocese 
might  be  made  distinctly  manifest." 

The  question  was  then  put  and  the  amendment  lost  by  an  overwhelm- 
ingly large  vote;  thus  decisively  expressing  the  opinion  that  the  Bishop, 
if  restored,  should  retain  jurisdiction. 

Charles  Davies,  LL.D.,  moved  that  the  Hon.  Murray  Hoffman's  resolu- 
tion b,c  amended  by  striking  out  the  words,  "  not  inconsistent  with  the 
terms  in  such  letter,"  which  amendment  was  accepted  by  Judge  Hoff- 
man. 

The  Provisional  Bishop  then  said  that  he  thought  much  of  the  difficulty 
of  the  resolution  Avas  removed  by  the  amendment  just  passed. 

The  vote  was  then  taken  on  Judge  Hoffman's  resolution,  by  orders,  and 
resulted  as  follows  : 


NARRATIVK    OF    EVENTS. 


139 


C  L  E  R  < ;  V 


A  Y  K  8 . 

Rev.  Mr.  II.  Adams, 

Rev.  Mr.  Gecr, 

Rev 

-.  Dr.  Payne, 

"         R.  S.  Adams, 

"       Gibson, 

Rev 

-.  Mr.  Pearson. 

"          Andrews, 

"        A.  Guion, 

"       Pennell 

"        Appleton. 

"        T.  T.  Guion, 

T.  McC.  Peters, 

"         1".  Teller  Babbit 

,    Rev.  Dr.  Hackley, 

"       Porter, 

"        Baker, 

"       Haight, 

"         Potter, 

"        Barrows. 

Rev.  Mr.  J.  L.  Harrison, 

"         Pratt, 

"        Bates, 

"        Hart, 

Rev 

'.  Dr.  Price, 

Rev.  Dr.  Beach, 

"        Haskins, 

Rev 

-.  Mr.  E.  Roberts, 

"        Berrian, 

"         Hathaway, 

"        II.  F.  Roberts, 

Rev.  Mr.  B.  R.  Betts, 

Rev.  Dr.  Hawks, 

Rev 

•.  Dr.  J.  J.  Robertson, 

"        Boggs, 

Rev.  Mr.  Hedges, 

Rev 

.  Mr.  J.  A.  Robinson, 

C.  W.  Bolton, 

Rev.  Dr.  Henry, 

' '         Rodenstein, 

"        Brewer, 

"        Hi-bee, 

Rev 

■.  Dr.  Rudder, 

Rev.  Dr.  Brown, 

Rev.  Mr.  Hitchcock, 

Rev- 

.  Mr.  Scott, 

Rev.  Mr.  J.  II.  11.  Brown, 

"        Hollingsworth, 

Rev 

.  Dr.  Schramm, 

"        Buel, 

"        Hopkins, 

Rev 

.  Mr.  Selkirk, 

Rev.  Dr.  Chauncev', 

' '        Hopson, 

"        G.  F.  Seymour, 

"        Clap, 

Rev.  Dr.  Houghton, 

"        Sill, 

Rev.  Mr.  Clapp, 

Rev.  Mr.  Howland, 

"        Sleight, 

Rev.  Mr.  J.  S.  Clark, 

"         G.  Huntington, 

Rev 

.  Mr.  0.  H.  Smith, 

"        Cleveland, 

"        B.  S.  Huntington 

J 

"        J.  S.  Spencer, 

"        Coffey, 

' '        Jessup, 

Spor, 

E.  R.  T.  Cook, 

"         D.  V.  M.  Johnson 

"        Stowell, 

"        I.  P.  Cox, 

"        E.  M.  Johnson, 

"        Stringfellow, 

Rev.  Dr.  Creighton, 

Rev.  Dr.  S.  R.  Johnson, 

"        Tiffany, 

•    "        Cutler, 

"        W.  L.  Johnson, 

"        Thomas, 

Rev.  Mr.  II.  M.  Davis, 

Rev.  Mr.  Judd, 

"        Traver, 

"        S.  C.  Davis, 

Rev.  Dr.  Leonard, 

Rev 

.  Dr.  Tucker, 

"        Dc  Zeng, 

"        Lewis, 

Rev- 

.  Mr.  Tuttle, 

"        Dickinson, 

Rev.  Mr.  Livingston, 

"        Twing, 

"        Diller, 

"        Mcllwaine, 

Rev 

•  Dr.  Tyng, 

Dix, 

Rev.  Dr.  McVickar, 

Rev 

.  Mr.  Upjohn, 

"        Draper, 

Rev.  Mr.  W.  A.  McVickar, 

Rev 

.  Dr.  Vinton, 

' '         Drowne, 

' '        Maybin, 

Rev- 

.  Mr.  W.  Walsh, 

Duffie, 

"        Miller, 

"        J.  M.  Ward, 

"         Duncan, 

"        Millett, 

"         Warren, 

«        Early, 

"        W.  H.  Moore, 

"        Washbon, 

"        Eaton, 

Rev.  Dr.  R.  U.  Morgan, 

"        Watson, 

Rev.  Dr.  Eigenbrodt, 

"        "W.  F.  Morgan, 

"        Weaver, 

Rev.  Mr.  Elmendorfj 

Rev.  Mr.  Mulcahey, 

"        Wellman, 

"        Embury, 

"        Neidc, 

"        Wells, 

"        Fairbairn, 

"        G.  H.  Nichols, 

"        Weston, 

"        Fairbanks, 

"        Noll, 

"        Whiting, 

"        Farrington, 

Rev.  Dr.  Ogilby, 

"        Widdemer, 

"        J.  B.  Flagg, 

Rev.  Mr.  Olssen, 

"        Jas.  II.  Williams, 

"        E.  0.  Flagg, 

"        J.  A.  Paddock, 

"        Wood, 

"        Fowler, 

"        W.  F.  Paddock, 

"        Wvatt, 

"        Gallaudet, 

"        Partridge, 

NOES. 

"         loung. 

Rev.  Dr.  Anthon, 

Rev.  Dr.  Harris, 

Rev. 

.  Mr.  S.  W.  Sayres, 

Rev.  Mr.  Anthon, 

Rev.  Mr.  Huckel, 

J.  C.  Smith, 

"        Bostwick, 

"        W.  R.  Johnson, 

Rev. 

Dr.  Taylor, 

"        J.  C.  Brown, 

Rev.  Dr.  Jones, 

Rev. 

Mr.  Thrall, 

Rev.  Dr.  J.  II.  Coit, 

Rev.  Mr.  Montgomery, 

White, 

Rev.  Mr.  Eccleston, 

"        S.  Reed, 

"        Wiley. 

"        Gribble, 

147 

19 

140 


NARRATIVE   OF    EVENTS. 


ABSENTEES. 


Right  Rev.  Dr.  Potter, 

Rev.  Mr.  Frost, 

Rev 

.  Mr. 

Ransom, 

Rev.  Mr.  Afcerly, 

"        Gessner, 

it 

Reese, 

"        Franklin  Babbitt, 

Rev.  Dr.  Hobart, 

(< 

Rodman, 

"        Barton, 

Rev.  Mr.  Hoffman, 

it 

K.  C.  Rodgers, 

"        Beare, 

"        Hoyt, 

t< 

Rumney, 

Rev.  Dr.  Bedell, 

"        Hughes, 

(i 

Scarborough, 

Rev.  Mr.  Benedict, 

"        P.  P.  Irving, 

ii 

ScohVld, 

"        J.  II.  Betts, 

Rev.  Dr.  T.  Irving, 

Rev 

.  Dr. 

Seabury, 

"        T.  M.  Bishop, 

"        Jackson, 

Rev 

.  Mr. 

Shaw, 

"        Black. 

Rev.  Mr.  Kenney, 

ii 

Shelton, 

Rev.  Dr.  Canfield, 

"        Labagh, 

ii 

Shortt, 

Rev.  Mr.  C.  II.  Canfield, 

"         Lowell, 

ii 

J.  Howard  Smith, 

Rev.  Dr.  Carter, 

"        Lowr\-, 

Rev 

.  Dr. 

Staunton, 

Rev.  Mr.  Clarkson, 

"        Lynd, 

Rev 

.  Mr. 

.  Synnot, 

Coe, 

"        Mallaby, 

ii 

Temple, 

Rev.  Dr.  T.  W.  Coit, 

"        Ma]  lies', 

a 

Tracey, 

S.  Cooke, 

"        J.  W.  Moore, 

it 

Treadway, 

Rev.  Mr.  Cooper, 

Rev.  Dr.  Morris, 

ii 

Tripp, 

Cornwall, 

Rev.  Mr.  Francis  Peck, 

Rev 

.  Dr. 

Turner, 

"        Curtis, 

"        W.  L.  Peck, 

Rev 

.  Mr. 

Vermilye, 

"        Davis, 

"        II.  R.  Peters, 

it 

Verren, 

"        Dean, 

"        Phelps, 

ii 

Waite, 

"         Ed  wards, 

Rev.  Dr.  Pitkin, 

it 

Walker, 

"        Ellsworth, 

Rev.  Mr.  Pound, 

ii 

G.  H.  Walsh, 

"        W.  G.  French, 

"         F.  C.  Putnam, 

TOTAL. 

i 

ti 

Waters. 

Ayes. 

Noes. 

Divided. 

147 

19 

Congregations 

46 

2 

222 


65 


The  resolution,  as  adopted,  read  as  follows : 


"  Resolved,  That  the  Remission  of  the  Sentence  of  the  Right  Rev.  Bishop 
Onderdonk  would  be  acceptable  to  this  Convention,  on  the  condition  that 
the  restrictions  upon  the  exercise  of  Episcopal  powers  and  offices  within 
this  Diocese,  set  forth  in  his  letter  to  the  Right  Rev.  Bishop  II.  Potter, 
laid  before  this  Convention,  and  a  copy  of  which  is  hereto  appended  [see 
p.  129],  be  annexed  to  the  same,  or  such  restrictions  relating  to  the  exer- 
cise of  such  powers  as  the  House  of  Bishops  deem  proper." 

The  secretary  was  then  directed  to  transmit  to  the  House  of  Bishops, 
through  the  Deputies  from  this  Diocese  to  the  General  Convention,  the 
action  had  by  the  Convention  on  the  subject. 

Some  attempts  having  been  made  to  disparage  the  above  vote,  we  may 
state  that  the  whole  number  of  clergy  in  the  Diocese  entitled  to  vote  was 
222;  the  number  usually  present  at  Convention,  195-98.  The  vote  given 
at  the  recent  Convention,  is  we  believe,  the  largest  since  1854,  when  the 
election  of  a  Bishop  called  out  182  votes,  there  being  then  232  entitled  to 
vote.  The  ICG  votes,  therefore,  cast  at  the  last  Convention  came  within 
nine  or  ten  of  being  in  proportion  as  large  a  vote  as  the  exciting  question 
of  an  election  called  out. 

So  with  regard  to  the  laity.  Though  259  parishes  were  entitled  to  vote, 
only  158  were  represented  in  1858,  and  the  votes  cast  in  1859  on  the  qucs- 


NARRATIVE    OF   EVENTS.  141 

tion  of  Bishop  Ondcrdonk's  restoration — 123  in  all — is  much  larger  than 
any  since  the  election  of  Bishop  Potter. 

As  an  evidence  of  the  state  of  feeling  in  New-York,  respecting  the 
Bishop's  restoration,  we  quote  the  following  from  an  able  editorial  iu  the 
New-York  Express  of  October  1st,  1859  : 

'■  The  motives  at  work  to  produce  the  Bishop's  restoration,  we  were  per- 
suaded at  the  shut,  were  higher  and  nobler  ones  than  any  that  could  pro- 
ceed from  considerations  of  party,  and  hence  we  had  no  hesitation  in  ex- 
pressing tin;  hope  that — speaking  simply  as  men  of  the  world,  and  as  secu- 
lar journalists — the  movement  should  be  successful.  The  hope  is  now  real- 
ized. The  movement  is  successful.  The  vote  in  the  Convention  yesterday 
is  a  virtual  restoration  of  the  Bishop — for  though  it  is  only  a  petition  to 
the  House  of  Bishops,  at  Richmond — it  is  a  petition  which  gives  unmistak- 
able utterance  to  the  now  all  but  united  voice  of  this  Diocese,  and  it  is  not 
to  be  doubted  for  a  moment,  therefore,  that  these  Bight  Reverend  Fathers 
will  take  it  upon  themselves  to  turn  a  deaf  ear  to  it.  .**.*.*  * 
When  they  see  on  the  same  record  the  names  of  Vinton  and  Tyng,  Row- 
land and  Beach,  Iligbee  and  Hawks,  Hopkins  and  Lewis,  Geer  and 
Guion,  the  real  state  of  the  case  it  will  be  impossible  to  misinterpret  or 
misapprehend.  B  may  be  taken  for  granted,  therefore,  that  within  a  few 
days,  the  House  of  Bishops,  as  a  logical  result  of  the  action  of  the  Dio- 
cesan Convention,  will  grant  the  prayer  of  the  petitioner,  and  thus  re- 
store their  brother  here  to  the  office  from  which  he  has  been  suspended  so 
long.  Meanwhile,  we  again  congratulate  the  Church  upon  the  prospect 
that  is  thus  presented  of  an  early  relief  of  the  Diocese  from  the  anomalous 
and  unhappy  position  it  has  so  long  occupied,  and  the  consequent  restora- 
tion of  that  harmony  and  good  feeling  among  its  members,  clerical  and 
lay,  which  this  '  vexed  question'  has  at  times  so  seriously  disturbed." 


THE  DOINGS  OF  THE  NEW- YORK  DELEGATION. 

Since  the  action  of  the  Diocesan  Convention  had  resulted  so  favorably, 
Bishop  Onderdonk  transmitted  his  Memorial  to  the  Bev.  Dr.  Vinton,  accom- 
panied by  the  following  letter  : 

BISHOP  OXDERDONK'S  SECOND  LETTER  TO  THE  REV.  DR.  VINTON. 

New-York,  October  4th,  1859. 

My  Dear  Dr.  Vinton  : — Agreeably  to  what  I  said  in  my  last  conversa- 
tion, I  now  transmit  the  Memorial.  Sickness  and  the  press  of  kind  friends 
have  delayed  my  finishing  it.  I  take  the  liberty  of  requesting  nry  respected 
brethren,  the  Clerical  Deputies  from  this  Diocese,  to  take  counsel  together 
as  to  the  best  mode  of  bringing  it  to  the  notice  of  the  Bishops. 

When  1  had  the  pleasure  of  seeing  you  last,  I  did  not  recollect  the  fact 
that  the  proprietors  of  one  of  the  papers  of  Richmond  had  advertised  to  re- 
ceive subscriptions  for  the  space  of  time  occupied  by  the  session  of  the  Con- 
vention. I  enclose  $3  for  my  subscription,  and  whatever  other  expenses  may 
attend  the  transmission  of  printed  documents  of  all  sorts,  ordered  by  either 
House  of  the  Convention ;  and  also  for  discounts  on  the  money,  if  there  be 
any.  If  it  should  fall  short,  please  let  me  know.  If  there  bo  a  surplus, 
please  contribute  it  to  any  object  for  which  offerings  or  collections  may 
be  made. 


142  NARRATIVE   OF   EVENTS. 

Commending  you  and  your  colleagues  to  the  aid,  direction,  and  blessing 
of  God's  heavenly  grace,  in  the  solemn  and  important  matters  before  you, 
I  am,  dear  Doctor, 

Yours,  truly  and  affectionately, 

Benj.  T.  Onderdonk. 
Rev.  Francis  Vinton,  D.  D. 

P.  S. —  Wednesday,  5th.  Sickness  has  again  intervened.  The  Memo- 
rial is  an  exact  copy  of  the  original,  which  I  did  not  like  to  send,  on 
account  of  its  having  become  somewhat  worn.  Having  begun  to  transcribe 
it,  I  did  not  wish  to  put  it  in  the  hands  of  a  copyist,  so  as  to  present  two 
different  chirographs.  It  seemed  to  me  more  proper  that  the  whole  should 
be  an  autograph. 

The  New-York  delegation  were  also  entrusted  with  the  following 
Memorial  from  the  Church  of  the  Annunciation,  to  be  presented  to  the 
House  of  Bishops : 

MEMORIAL  OF  THE  CHURCH  OF  THE  ANNUNCIATION,   NEW- YORK. 

To  the  House  of  Bishops  of  the  General  Convention  of  the  Protestant  Epis- 
copal Church,  for  the  Year  of  our  Lord  1859;  1 

Right  Reverend  Fathers  : — The  undersigned,  the  Rector, Wardens,  and 
Vestrymen  of  the  Church  of  the  Annunciation,  in  the  City  of  New- York, 
having  understood  that  the  Right  Rev.  B.  T.  Onderdonk,  D.  D.,  the  Bishop 
of  the  Diocese  of  New- York,  has  addressed  to  your  venerable  body  a 
Memorial  praying  to  be  relieved  of  the  sentence  of  suspension,  pronounced 
on  him  by  a  Court  of  Bishops  in  this  city,  in  January,  A.  D.,  1845,  respect- 
fully represent : 

That  the  said  Bishop  B.  T.  Ohderdonk,  for  nearly  fifteen  years,  or  ever 
since  his  suspension,  has  been  a  member  of  our  Parish,  and  a  constant 
attendant  on  Divine  Service  in  our  Church,  both  on  week-days  and  Sun- 
days. From  this  circumstance  it  has  happened  that  some  or  other  of  our 
Parish  have  been,  during  the  whole  of  this  time,  in  habits  of  daily  inter- 
course with  our  Bishop,  and  that  we,  the  representatives  of  the  Parish, 
have  had  opportunities  not  possessed  by  others,  of  observing  his  deport- 
ment, and  we  have  no  hesitation  in  bearing  our  unequivocal  testimony  to 
the  purity  and  holiness  of  his  life  and  conversation  during  the  whole  time 
of  his  connection  with  our  Parish.  In  the  sanctuary,  Ave  have  been 
impressed  and  edified  by  his  humble,  reverential,  and  serious  deportment. 
In  his  social  intercourse,  we  have  seen  no  levity  in  his  manners,  nor  any 
evidence  of  impatience  or  discontent  under  his  sufferings ;  nor  have  we 
ever  heard  from  his  lips  the  words  of  murmur  or  reproach.  Degraded, 
in  the  Providence  of  God,  to  the  rank  of  those  over  whom  he  once  used 
to  preside,  he  has  set  us  a  bright  example  of  self-respect  as  a  man,  and  of 
quiet  and  uncomplaining  submission  as  a  Christian;  and,  though  debarred 
from  the  exercise  of  his  office,  he  has  uniformly  displayed  the  gravity  and 
dignity  that  are  fitted  to  adorn  it.  The  most  of  us  bear  this  testimony 
from  our  personal  knowledge  of  Bishop  Onderdonk  during  the  whole  time 
of  his  suspension,  the  rest  of  us  from  personal  knowledge  during  a  large 
part  of  the  time,  and  all  of  us  in  the  belief  that  we  have  said  no  more  than 
all  the  members  of  our  Parish  would  be  willing  to  confirm. 

For  about  twelve  years  of  his  suspension,  Bishop  Onderdonk  has  resided 
at  a  distance  of  about  two  miles  from  his  Parish  church.     Daily,  and 


I 

NARRATIVE   OF   EVENTS.  143 

often  twice  in  the  day,  i.  e.,  whenever  the  church  waa  opened  twice  a  day, 
whatever  might  be  the  weather,  the  appointed  hour  of  Service  has  always 
found  him  at  the  sanctuaiy,  in  the  layman's  place.  He  has  been  very 
seldom  absent  (and  only,  we  believe,  from  imperative  necessity),  and  never 
late  when  ho  has  been  present  at  all.  The  world,  in  the  profoundness  of 
its  wisdom  may  explain  this  conduct  without  allowing  it  to  bo  the  fruits 
of  faith  in  the  ever  blessed  Gospel;  but  we  should  do  injustice  to  your 
venerable  body  if  we  supposed  that  you  could  for  an  instant  believe  that 
the  man  who,  without  the  slimulants  of  office,  and  under  the  severest  dis- 
couragements, has,  for  the  last  fifteen  yoai\s,  departed  not  from  the  temple, 
but  served  God  day  and  night  with  prayers,  does  not  sincerely,  fervently, 
and  in  the  depths  of  his  heart  love  the  Great  and  Good  Being  whom  ho 
professes  to  serve. 

In  bearing  this  testimony  to  the  deportment  of  Bishop  Onderdonk,  and 
uniting  with  their  brethren  to  ask  of  you  the  termination  of  his  sentence, 
the  undersigned  are  desirous  that  their  sentiments  should  not  be  misunder- 
stood. At  Bishop  Onderdonk's  advanced  age  they  regard  the  removal  of 
his  sentence  as  a  matter  comparatively  unimportant  to  himself  and  to  his 
Diocese,  and  their  wishes  for  its  removal  are  prompted  mainly  by  other 
considerations.  They  believe  that  Bishop  Onderdonk  does  not  now  deserve 
the  punishment  which  he  suffers,  and  for  this  reason  they  think  it  just  that  he 
should  bo  relieved  from  it.  They  remember  that  after  the  sentence  was 
inflicted,  the  Church  took  the  earliest  possible  opportunity  to  empower 
your  venerable  body  to  remove  it,  and  to  decree  that  no  similar  sentence 
should  be  pronounced  in  future.  And  as  the  Church  has  opened  the  way 
for  the  termination  of  the  sentence,  and  as  Bishop  Onderdonk,  in  the 
opinion  of  the  undersigned,  does  not  deserve  to  suffer  the  pains  which  it 
imposes,  they  believe  that  the  humane  intentions  of  the  Church  will  be 
fulfilled  and  her  honor  promoted  by  its  unconditional  remission.  It  is  for 
this  reason,  chiefly,  Right  Rev.  Fathers,  that  we  unite  with  our  brethren 
in  requesting  you  to  extend  a  favorable  consideration  to  the  Memorial  of 
Bishop  Onderdonk,  and  to  remit,  without  reserve  or  condition,  the  penalty 
to  which  he  has  so  long  and  so  patiently  submitted. 

Samuel  Seabury,  Rector. 

Benjamin  A.  Mumford,      }  Wardens. 
Iloyd  Smith,  j 

William  H.  "VVisner, 
Thomas  B.  Coddington, 
William  P.  Lee, 
George  Platt, 
Stephen  P.  Nash, 
J^hn  C.  Thatcher, 
Henry  Meigs,  Jr., 
John  D.  Jones, 
October,  1859. 

The  New-York  Deputies,  after  arriving  at  Richmond,  held  a  consulta- 
tion respecting  the  best  mode  of  presenting  Bishop  Onderdonk's  Memorial 
to  the  House  of  Bishops. 

Although  they  have  as  yet  made  no  formal  report,  they  would  doubtless 
have  made  one  at  the  Convention  of  this  Diocese,  held  in  I860,  had  not 
the  session  been  brought  to  such  an  abrupt  termination  by  the  improper 
introduction  of  extraneous  business. 


Vestrymen. 


I 

144  NARRATIVE   OF   EVENTS. 

■     ACTION  OF  THE  BISHOPS. 

No  report  of  the  pi-oceedings  of  the  Bishops,  respecting  Bishop  Onder- 
donk's  Memorial,  appears  in  the  Journal  of  the  House  of  Bishops — the 
only  indication  we  have  of  the  consideration  of  the  suhject  hcing  the  simple 
announcement — 

"  On  motion,  the  House  resolved  itself  into  a  Council  as  Bishops." 

And  immediately  following  it,  without  any  mention  of  either  vote  or  reso- 
lution, we  read — 

"  The  Bishops,  as  a  Council,  having  risen,  the  House  resumed  its  ordinary  business." 

The  first  record  of  this  kind  appears  on  page  1G4  of  the  Journal,*  show- 
ing that  the  consideration  of  the  Memorial  commenced  October  10th  ;  and 
the  last,  on  page  192,  showing  that  the  final  decision  was  made  on  the 
evening  of  October  19th. 

At  the  first  meeting  Bishop  McCoskry  presented  the  Memorial,  which 
was  laid  over  until  the  following  day,  when,  with  other  Memorials  advoca- 
ting the  restoration  of  Bishop  Onderdonk,  it  was  read.  Bishop  Meade,  of 
Virginia,  distinguished  himself  by  presenting  an  unsigned  paper,  adverse 
to  the  restoration  of  the  Bishop,  but  was  not  allowed  to  read  it.  An  inte- 
resting question  was  started  by  Bishop  Elliott,  as  to  whether  the  Present- 
ing Bishops  should  retire  from  the  Council  or  vote  on  the  case.  Bishop 
Hopkins  maintained  that  these  Bishops  were  entitled  to  vote,  denied  the 
applicability  of  civil  analogies,  challenged  the  production  of  a  single  in- 
stance of  a  Bishop  not  acting,  and  doubted  the  retirement  of  civil  prose- 
cutors. Bishop  Whittingham  cited  authorities  establishing  the  opposite 
view.  After  further  discussion  a  vote  was  taken  on  the  subject,  and  it  was 
decided  by  all  against  Bishops  Dc  Lancey  and  Whittingham — Bishops 
Otey,  Elliott,  and  II.  Potter,  declining  to  vote.  We  have  no  means  of  ascer- 
taining why  the  Provisional  Bishop  of  New-York  thought  best  to  assume 
a  position  of  neutrality,  by  declining  to  vote  upon  a  question  of  this  nature. 

Long  after  the  decision  had  been  announced,  Bishop  Meade  (one  of  the 
original  Presenting  Bishops)  requested  to  be  considered  in  the  light  of  one 
declining  to  vote — leaving  25  ayes  instead  of  2G. 

The  first  resolution  having  an  immediate  bearing  upon  the  case  was 
ofi'ercd  by  Bishop  McCoskry,  of  Michigan,  providing  that  the  judicial  sen- 
tence passed  by  the  Court  of  Bishops  upon  Bishop  Onderdonk,  should  be 
altogether  remitted  and  terminated. 

On  Wednesday,  October  12th,  Bishop  Scott,  of  Oregon,  moved  the  in- 
definite postponement  of  the  whole  subject;  but,  on  motion  of  Bishop  Up- 
fold,  of  Indiana,  the  proposition  was  laid  on  the  table. 


•The  other  rpcords  of  Councils  held  on  tha  cue,  raw  bo  found  on  tho  following  pages  of  the 
Journal:  i  t.llth)?  P-  169  (Oct.  12th);  p.  1T2  (Oct.  14t«  ;  p.  1T6-T  (Oct.  l.»th) ;  p. 

179  (Oct  lith) ;  p    1st  (Oct.  ISth) ;  p.  1ST  (Oct.  13th,  evening)  ;  p.  102  (Oct.  19th,  evening.! 


NARRATIVE   OF   EVENTS.  145 

Bishop  A.  Lee,  of  Delaware,  desired  to  postpono  the  further  considera- 
tion of  the  subject  until  the  following  Monday,  in  order  to  give  time  for 
Opposition  Memorials  to  come  in.  Bishops  McCoskry,  of  Michigan,  and 
Do  Lancey,  of  Western  New-York,  objected  to  this  delay — its  tendency 
being  to  solicit  such  Memorials — and  suggested  Friday.  Bishop  Mcllvaine, 
of  Ohio,  proposed  Saturday,  but  this  was  lost  by  a  vote  of  10  to  10,  and 
Friday  was  ;it  length  agreed  upon. 

On  Friday,  October  14th,  the  Memorial  from  the  Church  of  the  Annun- 
ciation, New-York  (see  p.  142),  together  with  various  other  petitions  in 
favor  of  the  restoration  of  the  Bishop,  were  read  in  council.  Sundry  Oppo- 
sition Memorials  were  also  read,  including  a  "  Report  of  the  Delegates  of  a 
congregation  at  Flushing." 

Bishop  Meade  then  desired  to  read  a  private  letter,  which  he  had  re- 
ceived, opposing  the  restoration  of  Bishop  Onderdonk  ;  and,  notwithstand- 
ing his  request  was  denied,  the  letter  was  afterwards  placed  upon  the  table 
for  the  inspection  of  the  members. 

Bishop  McCoskry  then  informed  the  Council  that  ho  had  had  no  com- 
munication with  Bishop  Onderdonk,  but  that  the  Memorial  and  other  docu- 
ments had  been  placed  in  his  hands  by  a  portion  of  the  New-York  Depu- 
tation. 

The  question  then  came  up  on  the  adoption  of  the  resolution  of  Bishop 
McCoskry,  remitting  the  sentence  of  Bishop  Onderdonk,  in  accordance  with 
the  first  provision  of  Canon  11  of  Title  II.  of  Digest.  It  has  been  supposed 
by  some  that  no  vote  was  taken  upon  unconditional  restoration ;  but,  by 
reference  to  the  Canon,  it  will  be  seen  that  the  present  motion  amounted 
to  the  same  thing — conformity  to  the  language  of  the  Canon,  being 
thought  essential;  indeed,  Bishop  Polk  objected  to  the  resolution  on 
the  ground  that  it  granted  more  than  was  asked.  This,  however,  could 
not  be  the  case,  so  far  as  Bishop  Onderdonk  was  concerned,  for  no  relief 
was  ever  sought  or  contemplated  by  him,  upon  any  condition  whatever. 

The  question  was  then  taken  by  yeas  and  nays,  and  the  resolution  was 
defeated  by  a  vote  of  twenty-six  to  eight.  The  following  are  the  names  of 
the  Bishops  who  voted  in  the  affirmative  : 

Right  Rev.  Bishop  Otey,  of  Tennessee. 

"         "  "  Kemper,  of  Wisconsin. 

"        "  "  McCoskry,  of  Michigan. 

"  De  Lancey,  of  Western  New- York. 

"  Whittcngham,  of  Maryland. 

"  Chase,  of  New-Hampshire. 

"  Rutledge,  of  Florida. 

"  Odesheimer,  of  New-Jersey. 

Here,  again,  and  on  a  most  important  question,  the  Provisional  Bishop 
of  New- York,  requested  to  be  excused  from  voting,  notwithstanding  he  had, 
in  the  Diocesan  Convention,  actually  advised  the  unconditional  restoration 
of  their  Right  Reverend  Father  in  God,  in  these  words  :  "  I  would  rather, 
gentlemen,  that  )rou  should  restore  that  individual  (Bishop  Onderdonk)  to 

10 


II 

it 

(1 

It 

It 

It 

11 

tt 

146  NARRATIVE   OF   EVENTS. 

jurisdiction  untrammelled,  and  with  no  view  of  its  being  returned  to  mo 
hereafter." 

Before  voting,  Bishop  Whitehouse,  of  Illinois,  inquired  whether  this 
were  final ;  if  not,  it  might  be  voted  on  with  intent  to  bring  up  other  forms. 
This  accounts,  we  suppose,  for  his  voting  in  the  negative. 

Bishop  Whitehouse  then  offered  the  following  resolution  : 

Resolved,  That  the  sentence  of  Suspension  of  the  Right  Rev.  Benjamin 
Tredwell  Onderdonk,  D.  D.,  be,  and  hereby  is  remitted,  with  the  re- 
strictions and  conditions  on  the  exorcise  of  Episcopal  powers  and  offices 
within  the  Diocese  of  New-York,  as  set  forth  in  the  letter  of  the  Right  Rev. 
Benjamin  T.  Onderdonk  to  the  Right  Rev.  Horatio  Potter,  D.  D.,  a  copy 
of  which  is  appended  to  the  extract  of  Proceedings  of  the  Convention  of 
the  Diocese  of  New- York,  in  possession  of  this  House,  and  on  the  satisfac- 
tory pledge  of  Bishop  Onderdonk  to  the  full  effect  and  extent  of  that 
paper. 

Some  discussion  occurred  upon  this  resolution,  and  it  was  withdrawn  by 
the  mover  on  the  next  day,  because  it  was  obvious  that  it  could  not  pre- 
vail, and  in  order  to  substitute  one  which  it  was  hoped  would  satisfy  a  larger 
number.     Bishop  Whitehouse  then  offered  the  following  : 

We,  the  Bishops  of  the  Protestant  Episcopal  Church  in  the  United 
States,  having  duly  considered  the  application  of  Benjamin  Tredwell 
Onderdonk,  Doctor  in  Divinity,  and  Bishop  of  the  Diocese  of  New- York, 
to  be  relieved  from  the  sentence  of  suspension  passed  on  the  third  day  of 
January,  in  the  year  of  our  Lord  eighteen  hundred  and  forty -five,  in  the 
following  words,  to  wit : — 

"  It  is  hereby  ordered  and  declared  that  the  sentence  of  the  Court  is,  suspension  from 
the  Office  of  a  Bishop  in  the  Church  of  God,  and  from  all  the  functions  of  the  sacred 
ministry :  and  this  Court  do  solemnly  pronounce  and  declare  that  the  Right  Rev. 
Benjamin  Tredwell  Onderdonk  is  suspended  from  all  exercise  of  his  Episcopal  and 
Ministerial  functions — " 

Do  hereby  declare,  in  pursuance  of  our  Canonical  power  and  discretion,  as 
follows : 

That  the  sentence  of  suspension  of  the  Right  Rev.  Benjamin  Tredwell 
Onderdonk,  D.  D.,  Bishop  as  aforesaid,  be  so  far  remitted  and  modified 
that  he  may  exercise  the  office  of  Bishop  in  the  Church  of  God,  to  the  ex- 
tent, and  that  only,  of  performing  Episcopal  acts  at  the  request  of  any 
Bishop  having  ecclesiastical  jurisdiction  within  the  limits  of  the  Diocese  of 
said  Bishop,  but  so  that  he  shall  not  exercise  any  jurisdiction,  nor  have  a 
seat  in  the  House  of  Bishops,  but  he  may  also  exercise  the  sacred  functions 
of  the  Priesthood,  subject  to  the  Canons  and  authority  of  the  General  Con- 
vention. 

Resolved,  That  the  above  be  the  judgment  and  action  of  the  House  of 
Bishops,  in  Council  assembled,  on  tbe  application  of  the  Right  Rev.  Ben- 
jamin Tredwell  Onderdonk,  D.  D. 

The  New-York  Deputies  unanimously  approved  of  this  resolution,  con- 
sidering it  the  best  that  could  be  done  at  the  time.  It  was,  however,  lost 
by  a  vote  of  twenty -four  to  nine. 

The  next  motion  was  that  of  Bishop  Do  Lancey,  providing  for  the  re- 
mission of  the  sentence,  on  Bishop  Onderdonk  placing  in  the  hands  of  the 
Presiding  Bishop  a  full  resignation  of  his  jurisdiction.     This  resolution 


NARRATIVE   OF    EVENTS.  147 

assumed  the  present  conditional  assent  of  the  Bishops,  without  the  refer- 
ence to  them,  individually,  required  by  Canon  2  of  1850,  Sec.  G,  and  ren- 
dered the  restoration  complete,  on  the  transmission  of  Bishop  Onderdonk's 
satisfactory  resignation  to  the  Presiding  Bishop. 

Soon  after  this  motion  was  offered,  a  telegram  was  sent  to  Bishop  On- 
derdonk  by  the  Rev.  Dr.  Wyatfc,  and  a  letter  by  the  Rev.  Dr.  Vinton,  com- 
municating the  fact,  and  inquiring  whether  the  Bishop  would  resign  juris- 
diction.    The  following  telegram  was  sent  in  reply : 

BISHOP  ONDERDONK'S  TELEGRAM  TO  THE  REV.  DR.  VINTON. 

Nkw-York  (Jet.  17th,  1859. 
Rev.  Francis  Vinton,  D.  D., 

^Richmond: 

Res.    No.  B.  T.  0. 

The  following  letter  was  also  sent  by  the  Bishop  to  the  Rev.  Dr.  Vinton, 
explaining  his  position  in  refusing  to  resign  : 

BISHOP  ONDERDONK'S  LETTER  TO   THE  REV.  DR.  VINTON,  ON 
RESIGNATION  OF  JURISDICTION. 

New-York,  Oct.  17th,  1859. 

My  Dear  Dr.  Vinton  : — I  sit  down  to  reply  to  your  letter  of,  I  think,  the 
14th,  without  the  advantage  of  having  it  before  me.  It  came  to  hand  this 
morning.  I  immediately  prepared  a  telegram  in  the  words  which  you 
doubless  anticipated — "  Res.  No."  As  the  only  son  who  is  now  a  member 
of  my  household,  was  not,  on  account  of  his  business,  then  available,  and 
as  I  did  not  just  now  wish  to  be  seen  sending  telegrams  to  Richmond,  I 
wrote  to  my  good  and  faithful  friend,  Dr.  Eigenbrodt,  requesting  the  favor 
of  his  attending  to  the  telegraphing,  and  enclosed  your  letter  for  his 
perusal.  My  servant  brought  me  word  he  was  out,  and  would  not  be 
home  until  this  evening.  She  left  the  packet.  Hence  my  not  having  your 
letter  now  before  me,*  and  the  probable  delay  until  to-morrow  morning, 
of  your  receiving  my  telegram.  In  the  heavy  burden  of  responsibilities 
for  opinions,  principles,  and  determinations,  which  for  long  years  has 
rested  upon  me,  I  have  always  endeavored — I  trust,  in  faith  and  prayers — to 
have  sound  general  principles  to  fall  back  upon,  as  a  preparation  for  right 
decision,  in  all  cases,  as  they  may  occur,  making  it  my  duty  to  decide  and 
act.  Never  has  conviction  of  duty  more  thoroughly  and  conscientiously 
taken  possession  of  my  mind  than  now,  in  the  matter  of  resignation.  I 
cannot — I  will  not.  My  time  for  settling  up  my  accounts  for  eternity 
must  be  now  near  at  hand.  I  dare  not — no  matter  what  the  considerations 
— have  recourse  to  an  expedient  which  I  consider  so  wrong  as  resignation. 

With  my  prayers  and  blessing  as  for  the  Convention  generalty,  so  espe- 
cially for  the  delegation  from  my  own  Diocese,  I  am,  dear  Doctor, 

Yours,  truly, 

Benj.  T.  Onderdonk. 
Rev.  Francis  Vinton,  D.  D. 


*  Application  was  recently  made  to  the  Rev.  Dr.  Eigenbrodt,  for  the  purpose  of  obtaining  the 
letter  here  referred  to,  but  it  had  unaccountably  disappeared.  Its  contents,  however,  are  suffi- 
ciently indicated  by  the  reply  of  the  Bishop. 


148  NARRATIVE   OF   EVENTS. 

Bishop  De  Lancey's  resolution,  therefore,  fell  to  the  ground. 

Bishop  Mcllvaine  then  remarked,  that  he  would  like  to  try  some  test 
question,  without  saying  anything  of  the  merits  of  the  case,  and  accordingly 
moved  to  lay  the  "Memorial"  on  the  table.  The  vote*  resulted  as  fol- 
lows: 

FOR  LAYING  ON  THE  TABLE. 

Right  Rev.  Bishop  Meade,  of  Virginia, 

<<  "  "  Hopkins,  of  Vermont, 

"  "  "  Smith,  of  Kentucky, 

"  "  "  McIlvaine,  of  Ohio, 

»  "  "  Polk,  of  Louisiana, 

»  "  "  Elliott,  of  Georgia, 

«  "  "  Lee,  of  Delaware, 

"  "  "  Johns,  Assistant,  of  Virginia, 

"  "  "  Eastburn,  of  Massachusetts, 

"  "  "  Burgess,  of  Maine, 

"  "  "  Green,  of  Mississippi, 

»  "  "  Rutledge,  of  Florida, 

"  "  "  Davis,  of  South  Carolina, 

«  "  "  Atkinson,  of  North  Carolina, 

"  "  "  Scott,  of  Oregon, 

"  "  "  Lee,  of  Iowa, 

"  "  "  Clark,  of  Rhode  Island, 

"  "  "  Gregg,  of  Texas. 

"  "  "  Bedell,  of  Ohio. 

against  laying  on  the  table. 

Right  Rev.  Bishop  Otey,  of  Tennessee, 

Kemper,  of  Wisconsin, 

De  Lancey,  of  Western  New- York, 

Whittingham,  of  Maryland, 

Cobbs,  of  Alabama,  f 

Hawks,  of  Missouri, 

Upfold,  of  Indiana, 

Williams,  Assistant,  of  Connecticut, 

Whiteiiouse,  of  Illinois, 

Bowman,  Assistant,  of  Pennsylvania. 

Whipple,  of  Minnesota, 

Odenheimer,  of  New-Jersey, 

The  House  then  voted  to  permit  the  Bishop  to  withdraw  his  Memorial. 

The  Provisional  Bishop  of  New-York  continued  throughout  to  preserve 
the  condition  of  entire  neutrality  on  the  question,  which  he  at  first  as- 
sumed, and  did  not  depart  from  it  to  sanction  any  proposition  for  the  relief 
of  the  Bishop  of  this  Diocese. 


(( 

(( 

tt 

(1 

tt 

tt 

it 

tt 

tt 

«( 

tt 

tt 

(( 

It 

tt 

(1 

(( 

tt 

II 

It 

tt 

(1 

It 

tt 

1 

tt 

tt 

(1 

(t 

It 

(I 

tt 

tt 

•Bi«hon«Brownell,  of  Connecticut,  and  Kip,  of  California,  were  not  present  at  General  Con- 
vention  PHi'hop"  McCo.kry,  of  Michigan,  and  Potter,  of  Pennsylvania,  were  probably  absent 
from  the  House  #aan  thii  vote  waa  t  ik  >n. 

t  Uncertain  whether  present  or  not;  but  if  present,  voted  with  minority. 


NARRATIVE   OF   EVENTS.  149 

The  enemies  of  Bishop  Onderdonk  in  the  Council  of  Bishops,  were  evi- 
dently unwilling  to  incur  the  displeasure  of  the  Church,  by  an  open  and 
straightforward  non-concurrence  in  the  proposition  of  Bishop  Whitehouse 
for  partial  restoration.  At  a  very  late  period  of  the  session,  the  leading 
Bishops  of  the  opposition  signified  to  Bishop  "Whitehouse,  who  informed 
the  New- York  Delegation,  that  the  difficulty  in  the  way  of  the  Council  to 
restore  in  part  was  purely  canonical.  It  was  suggested,  that  if  the  House 
of  Deputies  would  amend  the  Canon  by  inserting  the  words  "  or  in  part,"' 
between  'altogether--'  and  "remit,"  "so  that  it  would  read  "  may  alto- 
gether, or  in  part,  remit,"  the  scruples  of  the  Bishops  would  be  re- 
moved. The  affect  of  this  amendment  would  have  been  to  restore  Bishop 
Onderdonk  to  the  exercise  of  the  duties  of  his  office,  and  keep  jurisdiction 
suspended.  His  relative  position  to  the  Church  at  large  would  thus  have 
been  like  that  of  a  Bishop  who  had  resigned  jurisdiction,  enabling  him 
to  exercise  his  priestly  office,  and  to  officiate  as  Bishop,  whenever  invited 
to  do  so  by  another  Bishop.  As  soon  as  the  above  intelligence  reached 
the  House  of  Deputies,  they  resolved  to  make  the  matter  easy  for  the 
Bishops;  and,  on  motion  of  one  of  the  Delegates  from  New-York — the 
Rev.  Dr.  Francis  Vinton — they  immediately  and  unanimously  directed  the 
Committee  on  Canons  to  report  the  suggested  amendment  to  Canon  2  of 
1847  (Canon  11.,  Title  II.  of  Digest).*  The  Committee  reported,  and  on 
the  following  day  the  Canon,  so  amended  as  to  meet  the  expressed  wishes 
of  the  Bishops,  was  sent  up  to  them  for  concurrence,!  with  a  degree  of 
promptness  and  energy  which  could  not  fail  to  vindicate  the  determina- 
tion of  the  House  of  Deputies  to  remove  every  obstacle  in  the  way  of  the 
Council,  and  to  do  all  in  their  power  for  the  restoration  of  Bishop  Onder- 
donk. 

But,  no  sooner  did  the  Bishops  learn  this  unexpected  action — no  sooner 
did  they  realize  the  overpowering  fact  that  the  Canon  was  passed  by  the 
House  of  Deputies — that  the  representative  body  of  the  American  clergy 
and  laity  was  in  favor  of  the  immediate  restoration  of  Bishop  On- 
derdonk to  Office — than  one  of  their  number,  Bishop  Alfred  Lee,  moved 
to  non-concur.  And  the  majority  non-concurred,  giving  as  a  reason  that 
there  was  '•  no  sufficient  cause,  at  this  late  period  of  the  session,  for  its  pas- 
sage !n\  It  is  really  painful  to  be  obliged  to  add  to  these  Memoirs  that 
this  Message  of  non-concurrence  was  not  sent  to  the  House  of  Deputies 
until  the  close  of  the  session — just  before  the  final  adjournment — and  then, 
as  if  to  fill  up  the  measure  of  Bishop  Onderdonk's  misfortunes,  this  late 
Message  was  also  wrongly  endorsed  in  misnaming  the  Canon,  by  the  Se- 
cretary of  the  House  of  Bishops,  the  Rev.  Dr.  Balch  ! 

The  delay  thereby  occasioned,  prevented  the  House  of  Deputies  from 


*  See  Journal,  p.  120.  f  See  Journal,  p.  128. 

t  Ayes  20  ;  nays  7.    See  Journal,  p.  218. 


150  NARRATIVE    01<    EVENTS- 

appointing  a  Committee  of  Conference,  as  moved  by  the  Rev.  Dr.  Higbee* 
at  too  Lite  a  moment,  but  as  soon  as  possible  after  the  error  of  the  Secre- 
tary wus  discovered.  Thus,  by  the  wiliness  of  his  enemies  in  the  House 
of  Bishops,  was  the  last  and  most  commendable  attempt  on  the  part  of  the 
New-York  Deputies  to  effect  even  the  partial  restoration  of  Bishop  Onder- 
donk,  entirely  frustrated. 

In  order  to  understand  why  the  friends  of  the  Bishop  advocated  his  res- 
toration to  the  Episcopal  office  alone — leaving  his  jurisdiction  in  abey- 
ance— notwithstanding  he  had  expressly  stated  in  his  letter  to  the  Rev. 
Dr.  Vinton  that  he  would  not  resign,  it  should  be  borne  in  mind  that 
Bishop  Onderdonk  never  intimated  that  any  relief  resulting  from  indepen- 
dent legislation  would  not  be  agreeable  to  him.  But,  on  a  high  principle, 
he  could  not  consent  to  become  a  party  to  any  such  measure  as  a  condi- 
tion precedent.  He  believed  and  said  that  he  was  in  the  hands  of  God, 
and  that  he  could  not  do  a  more  sinful  act  than  to  connect  himself  with  a 
scheme  or  project  to  separate  himself  from  his  Diocese,  or  to  do  anything 
that  would  look  like  bargaining  for  restoration.  Therefore  it  was  that  he 
at  all  times  so  promptly  returned  a  negative  reply  to  every  proposition 
for  relief,  involving,  directly  or  indirectly,  the  surrender  of  jurisdiction 
— and  therefore  it  was  that  he  did  not  hold  himself  at  liberty  to  oppose  the 
movements  of  those  who  deemed  it  their  duty  to  act  in  his  behalf  without 
consultation  with  him. 

Bishop  Onderdonk  was  emphatically  a  man  of  principle ;  and,  even 
life  itself,  as  he  once  had  occasion  to  declare,  would  have  been  yielded  up 
by  him,  had  it  been  demanded  as  a  penalty  for  his  love  and  maintenance 
of  Truth. 

'•'His  self-control  under  the  severe  ordeal  through  which  he  was  called 
to  pass,  enabled  him  to  maintain  an  unmurmuring,  if  not  unbroken  spirit ; 
but  the  shrinking  muscle  and  perishing  vigor  bore  witness  to  the  severity 
of  his  suiferings.  By  virtue  of  his  office  he  was  President  of  the  Annual 
Convention  of  this  Diocese;  great  ability  and  decision  of  character  being 
required  to  discharge  the  duties  of  the  office  with  integrity,  honor,  and 
dignity  ;  and,  having  treasured  up  a  vast  store  of  rides  and  principles  ap- 
propriate to  such  a  position,  he  applied  them  with  accuracy  and  force. 
Quick,  correct,  and  positive  in  his  decisions,  order  was  sure  to  prevail, 
whilst  dispatch  of  business  invariably  followed.  Such  profound,  com- 
prehensive, acute,  and  watchful  business  capacity  and  affability,  combined 
with  an  unbending  decision,  resting  on  right  and  propriety,  was  never 
united  in  that  office  before  nor  since  his  administration.  We  doubt  not 
that  it  was  his  watchful,  strenuous,  and  conscientious  persistence  in  his 
efforts  to  bring  up  the  Church  to  her  ancient  and  unrepudiated  standards 
contained  in  the  Scriptures  and  the  Book  of  Common  Prayer,  that  formed 
a  chief  though  covert  element  in  the  persecution  organized  against  him. 
He  was  the  victim  of  popular  clamor;  and  it  was  in  obedience  to  popular 
clamor  that  the  Redeemer  of  the  world  was  nailed  to  the  Cross.     In  lmi- 


*  Sae  Journal,  p.  143. 


NARB.VTI  7E    0    F    EVENTS.  151 

tation  of  his  Divine  Muster,  the  hearing  of  the  Bishop,  since  his  con- 
demnation, lias  been  a  practical  living  prayer —  '  Father,  forgivo  them  ; 
they  know  not  what  they  do.' 

"  The  Church  will  long  seek  an  individual  as  fully  qualified  by  nature, 
mentally  and  physically,  to  superintend  the  religious  and  secular  adminis- 
tration of  i  he  Diocese  of  New-York  involving  vast  temporal  and  spiritual 
interests,  and  demanding  great  bodily  endurance  in  addition  to  rigid  and 
correct  acquittal  of  the  multiform  duties  of  the  position. 

b  That  tins  Diocese  should  have  been  deprived  of  his  watchful,  firm, 
and  conscientious  oversight  of  its  temporalities  :  of  his  stern,  earnest,  and 
substantial  vindication  of  the  Faith  "and  Discipline  of  the  Church  :  his 
almost  perfect  adaptability  to  meet  the  wants,  and  avoid  and  banish  the 
insidious  errors  that  so  peculiarly  beset  and  threaten  the  vital  interests  of 
the  Church,  at  this  more  than  at  any  previous  period  within  the  last  three 
centuries ;  his  ready  apprehension  of  detail,  and  profound  knowledge  of 
principles,  with  the  bodily  energy  to  keep  his  great  talents  in  active  use 
without  sinking  under  the  exertion — that  the  Episcopate  should  have  been 
deprived  of  the  labors  of  one  of  its  most  valuable  and  efficient  servants,  on 
a  charge,  which  at  its  utmost  proved  extent,  was  merely  an  offence  against 
the  strict  conventional  propriety  of  the  day,  and  neither  an  overt  nor  de- 
signed infraction  of  Scriptural,  moral,  or  ministerial  obligation,  will  be 
viewed  in  the  impartial  page  of  history  as  one  of  the  most  singular  acts 
of  folly  and  effeminacy  ever  committed  in  an  enlightened  age  by  men  of 
common  sense ;  and  only  to  be  accounted  for  by  a  concentration  or  in- 
ternal KOTIVES  Or  VARIOUS  SHADES,  AND  OUTSIDE  INFLUENCES  OF  ALL 
SORTS,  BROUGHT  TO   A  FOCUS  ON  THE  HEAD  OF  A  SINGLE  INDIVIDUAL! 


Sppenbi*. 


THE  CAREY  CASE.* 

Arthur  Carey,  whose  Ordination  formed  a  remarkable  epoch  in  the 
Episcopate  of  Bishop  Onderdonk,  was  born  in  the  vicinity  of  London,  on 
the  26th  of  June,  1822,  and  was  eight  years  of  age  when  his  father 
removed  to  this  country.  He  remained  in  this  city,  under  his  father's 
roof,  until  ho  was  eleven  and  a  half  years  old,  at  which  time  he  was 
placed,  in  company  with  his  two  brothers,  under  the  care  of  Bishop  Hop- 
kins, of  Vermont,  in  whose  family  he  resided  for  three  years.  At  the  age 
of  twelve  years,  ho  signified  to  his  father  his  desire  to  devote  himself  to 
the  Ministry,  and  from  that  hour  never  once  faltered  or  varied  from  hia 
purpose.  At  about  the  age  of  thirteen,  he  received  the  Holy  Rite  of  Con- 
firmation at  the  hands  of  Bishop  Hopkins,  and  was  shortly  after  prepared 
for  his  flrst  reception  of  the  Holy  Sacrament  of  the  Body  and  Blood  of 
Christ.  In  January,  1836,  he  was  admitted  into  the  Sophomore  class  of 
Columbia  College,  from  which  he  graduated  in  1839r  at  the  head  of  his 
class,  delivering,  as  is  customary,  the  Greek  oration  on  that  occasion.  In 
October,  1839,  at  the  age  of  seventeen  years  and  four  months,  he  entered 
the  General  Theological  Seminary,  and  on  the  completion  of  his  course  in 
June,  1842,  received  the  usual  testimonial  of  the  institution.  Being  at  this 
time  only  twenty  years  of  age,  and  desirous  of  enjoying  the  library  and 
other  advantages  of  the  Seminary,  he  continued  (with  leave  of  the  proper 
authorities),  to  reside  in  the  building  (having  no  other  connection  with  the 
institution),  and  to  pursue  his  studies  in  private,  until  he  was  of  age  for 
Holy  Orders.  While  connected  with  the  Seminary  and  residing  in  it,  he 
conciliated,  in  a  remarkable  degree,  the  love  and  respect  of  its  able  and 
learned  Professors  and  of  his  fellow-students.  On  the  2d  of  July,  1843, 
he  was  admitted  to  the  Holy  Order  of  Deacons,  in  St.  Stephen's  Church, 
New  York,  by  Bishop  Onderdonk,  at  which  time  the  Rev.  Drs.  Anthon 
and  Smith  publicly  protested  against  his  Ordination,  and  on  the  second 
Sunday  of  October  became  Assistant  Minister  of  the  Church  of  the  An- 


*  See  pages  13,  51,  53. 


APPENDIX.  153 

nunciation.  On  tho2.°»d  of  March,  1844,  he  embarked  with  his  father  for 
Havana,  for  the  benefit  of  his  health,  and  died  from  hlceding  ut  the  lungs 
on  the  4th  of  April,  and  on  tho  next  day  (Good  Friday)  was  buried  at  sea, 
about  fifteen  or  twenty  miles  N.  E.  of  the  Moro  Castle,  Havana.  The  Rev. 
Dr.  Seahury,  whose  Assistant  he  was,  Bays  of  him  :*  "  lie-  loved  his  Church 
and  ours,  my  brethren,  with  a  filial  love;  ho  sought  to  do  all  that  she  en- 
joined ;  ho  coveted  nothing  which  she  forbade  ;  he  condemned  nothing 
which  she  approved,  and  he  approved  nothing  which  she  obliged  him  to 
condemn.  *  *  *  *  For  myself,  I  can  say,  that  all  my  intercourse 
with  Mr.  Carey — and  I  believe  ho  opened  to  me  on  this  subject  his  in- 
most soul — never  excited  a  suspicion  in  my  mind  that  he  had  any  senti- 
ment towards  tho  Roman  Communion  inconsistent  with  an  honest  and 
hearty  allegiance  to  his  own  Church  ;  nor  do  I  at  all  doubt  that,  bad  he 
lived,  he  would  havo  continued  faithfully  and  steadfastly  to  serve  at  our 
Altars,  and,  by  a  patient  continuance  in  well-doing,  have  put  to  silence  tho 
obloquy  of  the  world/' 

[From  a  Correspondent  of  The  Churchman,  July  S,  1S43.] 
ACCOUNT  OF  THE  ORDINATION. 

Mr.  Editor — Having  been  present  last  Sunday  morning  at  tho  Ordina- 
tion at  S.  Stephen's  Church,  and  supposing  that  the  extraordinary  circum- 
stances attending  it  will,  of  course,  become  matter  of  public  comment  and 
remark,  I  beg  leave  to  state  those  circumstances  as  they  actually  occurred, 
that  your  readers  maybe  in  possession  of  the  truth  in  the  case;  to  say 
nothing  of  the  liberty  I  shall  tako  in  the  said  matter  of  comment  and 
remark. 

At  this  Ordination  there  occurred,  I  believe,  tho  first  instance  in  this 
country  of  action  under  tho  call  made  upon  tho  people  for  showing  any 
impediment  or  notable  crime  for  the  which  a  candidate  presented  ought 
not  to  be  ordained.  The  call  having  been  made  by  the  Bishop,  tho  Rev. 
Hugh  Smith,  D.  D.,  rector  of  S.  Peter's  Church  in  this  city,  and  tho  Rev. 
Henry  Anthon,  D.  D.,  rector  of  S.  Mark's  Church  in  this  city,  duly  hab- 
ited in  canonicals,  arose  in  a  pew  which  they  occupied  in  the  middle  aisle, 
and  each  road  a  paper  which  had  been  drawn  up  with  much  lawyer-liko 
formality,  bringing  against  one  of  tho  candidates,  as  an  impediment  for  tho 
which  he  ought  not  to  be  ordained,  the  accusation  that  he  held  doctrines 
adverse  to  those  of  the  Church,  and  too  nearly  bordering  on  popery,  and 
referring  for  proof  to  statements  and  circumstances  within  the  Bishop's 
knowledgc.f 


•  The  Joy  of  the  Saints :  A  Discourse  on  the  Third  Sunday  after  Easter,  A.  D.  MDCCCXLIV., 
being  the  first  Sunday  after  the  intelligence  of  the  death  of  the  Kev.  Arthur  Carey,  A.  M. 

t  Tho  following  are  the  papers  alluded  to  : 

Document  read  by  Dr.  Smith,  at  S.  Stephen's,  July  2,  upon  the  call  of  the  Bishop. 

Upon  thiri  solemn  call  of  the  Church,  made  by  you,  Reverend  Father  in  God,  as  on'?  of  its,  chief 
pastors,  I,  Hugh  Smith,  Doctor  in  Divinity,  a  presbyter  of  the  Protestant  Episcopal  Church  in 
the  Diocese  Of  New-York,  and  rector  of  St.  Peter's  Church,  come  forth,  in  the  name-  of  God,  to  de- 
clare, before  Him  and  this  congregation,  my  solemn  conviction  and  belief  that  tb  ire  ia  a  most 
serious  and  weighty  impediment  to  the  Ordination  of  Mr.  Arthur  Carev,  who  has  now  been  pre- 
sented to  you  to  be  admitted  a  deacon,  founded  upon  his  holding  sentiments  not  conformable  to 


154  APPENDIX. 

These  papers  having  been  read,  the  Bishop  rose  and  expressed  himself 
to  the  following  effect,  and  I  believe  in  the  following  words : 

u  The  accusation  now  brought  against  one  of  the  persons  presented  to  be 
ordered  deacons  has  recently  been  fully  investigated  by  me  with  the 
knowledge  and  in  the  presence  of  his  accusers,  and  with  the  advantage  of 
the  valuable  aid  and  counsel  of  six  of  the  worthiest,  wisest,  and  most 
learned  of  the  presbyters  of  this  Diocese,  including  the  three  who  are  as- 
sisting in  the  present  solemnities.  The  result  was,  that  there  was  no  just 
ground  for  rejecting  the  candidate's  application  for  Holy  Orders.  There  is 
consequently  no  reason  for  any  change  in  the  solemn  Service  of  the  day, 
and  therefore  all  these  persons,  being  found  meet  to  be  ordered,  are  com- 
mended to  the  prayers  of  the  congregation." 

The  Litany  was  accordingly  immediately  said,  and  the  Service  went  on 
without  further  interruption. 

During  the  whole  of  this  most  extraordinary  scene,  it  was  delightful  to 
witness  the  entire  absence  of  all  appearance  of  excitement  on  the  part  of 
the  very  large  congregation.  I  hope  that  my  faith  does  not  take  a  mis- 
guided direction  in  attributing  this,  with  humble  and  cordial  gratitude,  to 
God's  special  presence  with  His  Church,  and  the  Comforter's  blessing 
on  the  decent,  orderly,  and  conservative  character  of  our  beloved  portion 
of  it.  The  two  reverend  gentlemen  above  named  were,  I  believe,  the  only 
persons  present  who  disturbed  ''  our  solemn  Litany"  by  taking  their  hats 
and  leaving  the  Church.  They  were  certainly  the  only  clergymen  who 
separated  from  their  brethren  who  came  to  feed  on  the  banquet  of  the 
most  heavenly  food  of  the  Holy  Eucharist. 

Ou  this  most  extraordinary  affair  I  beg  leave  to  make  a  remark  or 
two. 

I  am  not  quite  sure  that  these  protesting  gentlemen  had  a  clear  right  to 
do  what  they  did. 

The  Bishop's  call  is,  according  to  the  Ordinal,  made  {:  unto  the  people." 
May  there  not  be  a  doubt  whether  a  clergyman,  wdio  has  had,  in  his  proper 
place,  ample  opportunity  to  make  objections  and  enter  protests,  is  here 
authorized  to  renew  them  in  public  ? 

Again :  The  case  now  before  us  is  not,  I  humbly  conceive,  within  the 
purview  of  the  rule  of  the  Ordinal.  It  was  an  adjudicated  case — a  matter 
in  which  the  Bishop  had  made  the  decision  which  belonged  of  right  to 
him.     It  could  give  him  no  newr  light  on  the  momentous  question  respect- 


thc  doctrines  of  the  Protestant  Episcopal  Church  in  these  United  States  of  America,  and  in  too 
Close  conformity  with  those  of  the  Church  of  Rome,  as  more  fully  set  forth  in  a  protest  from  me, 
placed  in  your  hands  yesterday.  Now,  therefore,  under  a  sacred  sense  of  duty  to  the  Church, 
and  to  its  Divine  Head,  who  purchased  it  with  His  blood,  I  do  again,  before  God  and  this  congre- 
gation, thus  solemnly  and  publicly  protest  against  his  Ordination  to  the  Diaconate. 
Dated  this  2d  day  of  July,  1S43. 

Hcon  Smito. 

Document  read  by  Dr.  Anthon,  a!  S.  Stephen's,  upon  the  call  of  the  Bishop. 
Reveeend  Father  in  Gop, 

I,  Henry  Anthon,  Doctor  in  Divinity,  a  presbyter  of  the  Protestant  Episcopal  Church  in 
the  Diocese  of  New- York,  and  rector  of  St.  M  irk's  Church,  in  the  Bowery,  being  present  in  S. 
Stephen's  Church  <>u  this  Third  Sunday  after  Trinity,  in  the  year  of  our  Lord  one  thousand  eight 
hundred  and  forty-three,  the  time  appointed  by  the  Bishop  for  an  Ordination  of  Deacons,  and  being 
under  a  firm  anil  full  persuasion  in  the  case,  as  has  been  heretofore  stated  in  a  written  commu- 
nication made  to  you,  dated  the  fir.-t  day  of  July  of  the  same  year,  do  now  come  forth,  and  in  the 
name  of  God,  show,  as  an  impediment,  that  Arthur  Carey,  who  has  at  this  time  been  presented 
to  be  admitted  deacon,  holds  thinfjs  contrary  to  the  doctrine  of  the  Protestant  Episcopal  Church 
in  thet,e.  United  States,  and  in  close  alliance  with  the  errors  of  the  Church  of  Home. 
Dated  this  2d  day  of  July,  1S43. 

Henry  Anthon. 


APPENDIX.  155 

ing  tho  fitness  of  the  individual  for  Orders.  That  question,  on  the  wry 
point  referred  to,  lie  had  settled.  The  Church  evidently  supposes  9  case 
into  which  the  Bishop  is  to  inquire.     In  this  ease  ihe  accusers  knew  full 

\w  LI  that  he  had  inquired,  and  iiad  accordingly  made  his  official  decision. 
I  pee  not  then  how  it  can  be  viewed  otherwise  than  as  a  disorderly,  and  of 
course  unchristian  and  unchurchlike  procedure.  It  strikes  me  that  it  was 
but  an  appeal  to  the  people — an  effort  to  enlist  their  feelings,  prejudices, 
and  passions — against  a  solemn  and  orderly  ecclesiastical  decision.  It 
reminds  me  of  what  is  probably,  Mr.  Editor,  in  the  vivid  but  painful  re- 
collection of  some  of  your  older  readei«s,  "  A  Solemn  Appeal  to  the  Church" 
of  former  days.  Whether  the  eases  are  analogous  in  the  matter  of  minut- 
ing down  for  publicity  the  substanco  of  private  conversations  and  interviews, 
time  perhaps  will  show. 

And  now,  in  what  light  will  a  sound  and  good  Churchman  view  this 
whole  affair?  The  Bishop  summons  eight  presbyters  to  an  examination 
of  a  candidate  who  has  been  represented  to  him  as  unsound  in  the  faith. 
He  and  six  of  the  presbyters  are  of  opinion  that  the  representation  is  not 
true.  The  two  disappointed  presbyters  make  a  public  appeal  against  their 
Bishop  and  brethren.  I  know  that  the  ungodly,  disorganizing,  and  radical 
spirit  of  the  a  ,e  runs  strongly  counter  to  the  conclusion  which  I  am  so  old- 
fashioned  and  Clmrchlike  as  to  favor.  I  submit  it;  however,  to  such  as  are 
not  unwilling  to  let  Gospel  and  Catholic  views  prevail  with  them,  maugre 
their  hostility  to  the  spirit  of  the  age. 

Those  who  have  ill-will  at  Zion,  and  desire  to  look  at  her  with  an  evil 
eye,  will  thank  the  gentlemen  who  have  thus  encouraged  them  to  say, 
There,  there,  so  woidd  we  have  it.  The  agitators  in  this  matter  will  un- 
doubtedly be  greatly  lauded.  Their  anti-puseyitism  will  call  forth  many 
a  note  of  praise.  From  all  this,  however,  I  anticipate  no  permanent  or 
serious  evil.  The  present  day  is  perpetually  manifesting  wonderful  inter- 
positions, controllings,  and  overrulings  of  Providence  in  behalf  of  the 
Church.  On  these  are  based  my  hopes ;  and  I  would  humbly  and  affec- 
tionately call  on  all  who  have  true  love  for  Zion  to  be  much  in  prayer, 
that  all  may  turn  to  her  good,  and  especially  keep  ever  near  their  heart 
the  gracious  counsel  to  the  Church,  of  "  the  Lord  God,  the  Holy  One  of 
Israel,"  "  In  quietness  and  in  confidence  shall  be  tour  strength."* 

X.  E.  O. 

P.  S. — As  the  names  and  titles  of  the  accusers  in  this  matter  were  so 
formidably  announced  to  the  congregation,  it  is  but  just  that  the  public 
should  know,  that  besides  their  Diocesan,  those  against  whom  they  have 
arrayed  themselves  are,  with  yourself,  Mr.  Editor,  the  Rev.  Drs.  Berrian 
and  McVickar,  and  the  Rev.  Messrs.  Price,  Higbee,  and  Haight,  who  were 
associated  with  Drs.  Smith  and  Anthon  as  examiners  in  the  case  in  which 
the  latter  have  thus  appealed  against  the  regular  and  orderly  decision. 

remarks. 

The  following  remarks  upon  the  case  we  take  from  an  editorial  in  the 
same  number  of  The  Churchman  : 

"  By  the  Constitution  of  the  Church,  the  power  of  Ordination  rests  in 
the  Bishop  alone,  to  be  exercised  in  conformity  with  canonical  regula- 
tions, for  the  violation  of  which  he  is  liable  to  impeachment  and  to  trial 


*  Isaiah  30:  15. 


156  APPENDIX. 

by  his  peers.     Of  the  fitness  of  the  candidate,  the  canonical  regulations 
beinv  complied  with,  the  Bishop  is  the  sole  judge,  and  by  his  decision  the 
Church  must  abide;  there  being  no  power  in  the  presbytery  or  the  laity 
to  compel  him  to  admit  to  the  Order  of  Deacons  one  whom  he  deems 
unmeet,  or  to  deter  him  from  admitting  one  whom  he  considers  meet  for 
that  holy  office.     In  the  present  instance,  all  the  canonical  requirements 
had  been  observed;  the  testimonials  of  the  Standing  Committee  had  been 
received;  and  the  regular  examinations  had  been  held;  and  this  being 
done,  the  Bishop  might,  had  he  seen  fit,  have  proceeded  to  ordain  the 
candidate  without  further  action,  and  with  strict  canonical   propriety. 
But  did  he  do  this  ?     On  the  contrary,  when  he  heard  of  allegations 
against  the  candidate's  doctrinal  soundness,  he  made  it  a  point  to  see  the 
candidate  and  to  examine  him  privately  and  for  his  own  satisfaction.     But 
did  he  then  ordain  him?     So  far  from  it,  that  he  appointed  a  special  ex- 
amination, to  be  conducted  in  his  presence,  by  eight  of  his  presbyters ; 
and  it  was  only  when,  in  addition  to  all  the  canonical  testimonials  and 
regular   examinations,  and    his   own  private    examination,    he    had   the 
recommendation  of  six  out  of  eight  presbyters  whom  he  had  summoned 
to  a  special  consideration  of  the  case,  that  he  proceeded  to  the  solemn  act 
of  Ordination.     Now  it  is  hard  for  us  to  see  on  what  principle  a  presbyter 
could  be  justified  in  entering  a  protest  against  an  Ordination  by  his 
Bishop  in  any  case  in   which  the   canonical   requirements   have  been 
observed ;  much  more,  in  a  case  where  so  much  had  been  clone  over  and 
above  what  the  Canons  require.     What  is  such  a  protest  ?  what  does  it 
mean  ?  and  why  is  it  made  ?     Among  Presbyterians,  where  the  power  of 
Ordination  is  vested  in  the  body  of  Presbyters,  and  where  a  question  of 
this  sort  would  be  decided  by  a  plurality  of  votes,  a  protest  on  the  part  of 
dissentients  would  be  perfectly  intelligible.     Among  Congregationalists 
who  hold  that  the  power  of  Ordination  emanates  from  the  people,  a  pro- 
test read  in  the  presence  of  the  congregation  would  be  a  sensible  act.     But 
what  meaning  or  what  sense  it  can  have  in  the  Church  of  God,  where  tho 
power  of  Ordination  is  held  to  derive  from  our  Lord  and  to  be  vested  in 
the  Bishop  alone,  we  are  utterly  at  a  loss  to  conceive.     Was  it  meant  to 
inform  the  Bishop  that  the  Ordination  was  considered  objectionable  by 
the  protesting  presbyters?     This  was  needless;    for  he  knew  the  fact. 
Was  it  meant  to  bring  those  objections  to  the  knowledge  of  the  congrega- 
tion ?     This  also  was  needlessly  obtrusive,  for  the   matter  was  not  one 
which  it  belonged  to  them  to  decide.     Was  it  meant  to  inform  the  reli- 
gious public  that  tho  Rev.  Henry  Anthon,  Doctor  in  Divinity,  and  rector 
of  St.  Mark's  Church  in  the  Bowery,  and  the  Rev.  Hugh  Smith,  Doctor  in 
Divinity,  rector  of  St.  Peter's  Church,  Chelsea,  censured  the  conduct^  of 
their  Bishop  in  the  premises  ?     But  surely  a  time  and  place  more  fitting 
might  have  been  found  to  convey  this  important  announcement  to  the 
world.     Or  finally,  was  it  meant  to  intimidate  the  Bishop,  and  divert  him 
from  the  discharge  of  a  duty  which  he  had  resolved  to  perform  ?     If  so, 
it  met  with  all  the  consideration  which  it  deserved ;  the  protest  being 
suffered  to  vanish  like  a  puff  of  6moke,  and  the  reverend  protesters  to 
follow  it." 

[From  The  Churchman,  July  15,  1S43.] 
TO     THE     CHURCH. 

The  undersigned,  members  of  the  Examining  Committee  in  tho  recent 
case  of  Mr.  Arthur  Carey,  candidate  for  Orders,  in  conjunction  with  the 
Rev.  Drs.  Smith  and  Anthon,  feel  themselves  called  upon  by  the  published 
statement  of  the  two  latter  gentlemen,  thus  far  to  reply  : 


APPENDIX.  157 

First  In  justice  to  themselves,  to  decline  definitively  any  defence  of  an 
act  on  their  part  of  purely  canonical  discretion. 

Secondly.  In  justice  to  Mr.  Carey,  solemnly  to  declare,  that  the  answers 
of  the  candidate,  as  given  in  the  above  pamphlet,  do  not  convey  tho  full 
and  fair  impression  produced  on  their  minds  by  his  examination ;  and  that, 
in  their  judgment,  such  statement  is  calculated  to  mislead  the  public 
mind,  and  to  do  injustice  to  all  parties  concerned  iu  his  examination  and 
subsequent  Ordination. 

^  With  this  summary  notice  of  tho  statement  above  alluded  to,  the  under- 
signed hold  their  own  duty  to  tho  Church,  touching  this  matter,  to  bo  fully 
and  finally  absolved.* 

William  Berrian,  Joseph  II.  Price, 

John  McVickar,  Edward  Y.  IIigbee, 

Samuel  Seabury,  Benjamin  I.  IIaight 
New-York,  July  19,  1843. 

rev.   dr.   higbee   on   the   special   examination. 

Whereas,  in  a  certain  pamphlet  entitled  "  The  True  Issue  for  the  True 
Churchman,"  I  understand  six  presbyters  of  the   Church   to  be  charged 
with  having  advised  the  Bishop  to  ordain  a  man  who  came  seeking  the 
Diaconate  with  '■'  a  double  creed  in  his  hand — the  Creed  of  Pius  IV.  and 
the  Thirty-nine  Articles — tho  Prayer-book  and  the  Missal;"  and  whereas  I 
understand  this  charge  to  be  based  upon  sentiments  expressed  by  the  can- 
didate in  a  conversation  with  tho  Rev.  Dr.  Smith,  reported  on  pp.  8,  9, 
10 — 29,  30,  31,  of  the  aforesaid  pamphlet; — and  upon  his  answers  in  the 
special  examination,  held  on  the  30th  of  June,  at  which  examination  the 
materiel  of  the  reported  conversation  was  made  the  subject  of  questions  put 
to  the  candidate,  so  that  the  examination  covered  the  entire  conversation ;  and 
whereas  I  attended  the  said  examination  on  the  30th  of  June,  and  heard 
every  question  proposed  to  the   candidate   and  every  answer  thereto — I 
now  solemnly,  to  the  best  of  my  knowledge  and  belief,  declare  the  charge 
to   be   entirely  untrue.     1    speak    not   of  the   reverend   authors    of  the 
pamphlet,  nor  of  their  motives,  but  of  the  charge  itself;  and  that,  let  men 
qualify  and  explain,  and  color  it  as  they  will,  is  untrue.     Mr.  Carey  did 
not  come  to  us  with  a  double  creed — with  the  Creed  of  Pope  Pius,  nor 
with  the  Roman  Missal.     He  came  to  us,  and  went  from  us  to  the  Bishop, 
with  the  Creed  of  the  Church  Catholic  in  his  hand — with  no  Romish 
additions  thereto.     He  professed  no  other  creed — he  came  to  us  with  our 
Prayer-book  in  his  hand — ho  came  to  us  and  said  concerning  the  Thirty- 
nine  Articles,  that  though,  according  to  Bishop  White's  opinion,   an  ex 
animo  assent  to  them  may  not  be  obligatory  in  th'e  American  Church,  he 
for  his  part  did  subscribe  them  ex  animo — (see  pp.  9,  10,  21,  of  the  "  True 
Issue,"  where  a  contrary  impression  is  distinctly  convoyed) — his  faith  was 
not  corrupted  by  a  single  article  peculiar  to  the  Romish  Church.     In 
charity  to  the  members  of  that  large   communion,  he  thought  it  possible 
that  they  might  honestly  explain  some  of  their  distinctive  doctrines  con- 
sistently ivith   the   true  faith,  so  as  to  relieve  themselves  from  the  fatal 
charge  of  apostacy,  and  bring  their  souls  within  the  fold  of  salvation; 
while  at  tho  same  time  he  deplored  the  corruptions  of  their  Church,  he 
repudiated  her  errors,  and  turned  his  face   steadfastly  away  from  her 
Altars. 


*  It  was  afterwards  thought  necessary  to  reply  at  length  to  the  statement  of  the  Rev.  Dra. 
Smith  and  Authon. 


158  APPENDIX. 

Can  this  be  so  ?■  Did  not  Mr.  Carey,  in  answer  to  tho  very  first  ques- 
tion in  his  conversation  with  Dr.  Smith,  and  in  his  examination,  appear  to 
regard  -with  complacency  the  alternative  of  seeking  Holy  Orders  in  the 
Church  of  Rome  in  case  they  should  he  denied  him  in  our  Church  ?  And 
did  ho  not,  in  answer  to  another  question,  say  in  effect,  that  in  his  opinion 
there  is  no  real  difference  between  the  creeds  of  the  respective  Churches  ? 
NO! 

The  first  question  suggested  tho  possibility  of  his  being  turned  out  of  the 
Church  of  his  fathers — of  being  denied  admission  to  the  Holy  Ministry,  to 
which  he  felt  himself  moved  by  the  Spirit  of  God,  which  from  childhood 
had  been  the  object  of  his  fondest  hopes,  and  of  the  hopes  of  his  friends, — 
for  which  his  father  had,  with  a  solicitude  and  pious  care  rarely  exhibited, 
sought  to  prepare  him — for  which  during  long  years  he  had  studied  and 
watched  and  prayed — foregoing  even  the  innocent  recreations  of  youth, 
and  counting  naught  else  dear  to  him  in  comparison  with  being  thoroughly 
furnished  for  the  good  work.  Now  just  on  the  threshold  of  the  Ministry, — 
with  the  object  of  his  hopes  almost  within  his  grasp, — he  is  sternly  asked 
by  those  who  have  authority  to  test  his  qualifications,  what  he  will  do  if 
all  the  plans  of  his  life  are  frustrated,  and  all  tho  hopes  of  his  devoted 
father  and  anxious  friends  are  disappointed?  What  he  will  do,  (ay,  in  all 
future  time,  for  there  is  no  limit  set  by  the  question),  if  the  call  to  the 
Ministry  which  his  heart  has  so  long  recognized  and  cherished,  shall  bo 
suppressed  by  the  mandate  of  ecclesiastical  power!  What  will  he  do? 
Will  he  seek  the  Ministry  of  the  Church  of  Rome  ?  To  such  a  questiou 
what  could  he  reply?  Alas,  I  knew  too  well  the  infirmities  of  my  nature 
to  anticipate  that  reply, — yet  he  nobly  escaped  the  pitfall  laid  for  his  con- 
science. In  that  trying  moment  he  retained  his  self-command.  He  did 
not  answer,  as  did  Hazacl,  when  the  prophet  predicted  his  career  of  crime 
and  blood,  '■'  Is  thy  servant  a  dog,  that  he  should  do  this  great  thing  ?"  Nor 
yet  did  he  say  like  the  disciple  who  afterward  denied  his  Master,  "  Lord, 
though  all  men  should  be  offended  because  of  thee,  yet  will  not  I  be  offended;'1 
but  in  meekness  and  fear,  mindful  of  the  words  of  wisdom, "  he  that  trusteth 
his  own  heart  is  a  fool,'"'  he  answered  for  the  present,  and  not  for  the  future, 
except  to  express  humbly  his  trust  that  he  should  remain  a  layman  in  his 
own  communion.  He  would  not  for  all  time  to  come,  and  in  view  of  tho 
trying  circumstances  set  before  him  by  the  question,  presumptuously  say 
what  might  be  possible  or  impossible  for  him,  a  frail  creature,  to  do  or  to 
suffer.  He  would  be  content  to  declare  for  the  present,  that  he  loved  his 
Church, — ho  felt  it  to  be  his  home, — and  had  no  inclination  to  depart  from 
it.  The  calm  wisdom  of  the  answer  exceeded  even  the  cruelty  of  the 
question. 

But  aside  from  these  details,  how  did  it  happen  that  if  Mr.  Carey  is  really 
above  the  suspicion  of  Roman  tendencies,  his  examination  should  be  so  filled 
with  Romanis7ii  ?  Why  did  not  he,  as  do  other  candidates  at  the  ordinary 
examination  for  Deacon's  Orders,  simply  give  an  account  of  his  faith  as  a 
member  of  the  Protestant  Episcopal  Church,  without  entering  into  those  in- 
numerable refinements,  and  explanations,  and  distinctions  which  marked  his 
answers  respecting  the  tenets  of  tho  Church  of  Rome  ?  It  all  happened  in 
this  wise: — A  simple  account  of  his  faith  as  a  member  of  the  Protestant 
Episcopal  Church  was  not  sought  by  his  two  chief  examiners  [Prs.  Smith 
and  Anthon]  on  this  occasion !  They  filled  the  examination  with  Roman- 
ism, and  rendered  necessary  every  explanation,  and  every  refinement,  and 
every  distinction  of  Mr.  Carey  by  their  crude  and  torturing  questions. 
This    was   not   the   ordinary  examination    of  a  candidate    for   Deacon's 


APPENDIX.  159 

Orders;    Mr.  Carey  had  already  sustained  that  satisfactorily  to  his  ex- 
aminers, :md  creditably  to   himself.     This  was  a  special  examination,  to 
the  appointment  of  which  the  Bishop  was  moved  by  the  representations 
of  oue,  I  believe,  of  the  reverend  authors  of  the  "  True  Issue.''      That 
reverend  author  had  heard  a  rumor,  which,  nourished  by  the  prejudices  of 
the  day,  had  acquired  au  imposing  tone  when  it  reached  him.     lie  con- 
versed witlt  Mr.  Carey  on  the  subject  of  the  rumor,  and  recorded  (as  far 
as  memory  served)  the  conversation.     Ho  then,  in  the  Board  of  Trustees 
of  the  Seminary,  expressed  his  conviction  that  there  is  in  that  institution 
an  "  undercurrent  of  Romanism,"  and  rather  hastily  (as  many  thought) 
pledge/!  himself  to  sustain  his  assertion  before  the  Church  if  necessary,  by 
documentary  proof — which  documentary  proof  was  understood  to  be  the 
record  of  his  conversations  with  Mr.  Carey.     When  the  special  examina- 
tion was  ordered,  and  this  gentleman  and  friend  were  appointed  as  two  of 
the  examiners,  it  doubtless  appeared  necessary  to  them  to  redeem  the 
pledge  which  had  been  given  before  the  Trustees,  and  to  confirm  the  rep- 
resentations which  had   been  made  to  the  Bishop.     With  no  intention,  of 
course,  of  doing  the  slightest  injustice  to  Mr.  Carey,  or  of  eliciting  any- 
thing hut  truth,  they  were  nevertheless  in  fact  (one  of  them  at  least  was) 
committed  to  the  issue,  and  bound  to  prove  him  a  Romanist,  or  strongly  in- 
clined  to  Romanism,  if  it  could  be  done.     The  prepared  and  condensed, 
though  not  grease  questions  which  they  brought  with  them  to  the  exami- 
nation, were  confined  to  the  topics  connected  with  the  Church  of  Borne, — 
having  respect  not  merely  to  the  acknowledged  abuses  and  corruptions,  but 
to  the  entire  doctrinal  and  disciplinary  system  of  that  Church,  and  to  their 
own  views  of  that  si/stem.     Mr.  Carey,  therefore,  did  not  choose  his  own 
topics,  nor  express  his  sentiments  upon  those  topics  in  his  own  way,  nor 
give  the  examination  the  color  of  his  own  mind.    He  must  answer  strictly 
the  question  proposed,  however  vague  and  imperfect  it  might  be.     Any 
departure  from  the  crude  letter  would  be  deemed  an  evasion;    and  the 
slightest  remonstrance  would  supply  food  for  suspicion.    The  task  was  his, 
fettered  as  he  stood  before  the  committee,  to  extricate  if  he  could,  not  only 
his  faith,  but  the  speculations  at  any  time  indulged  by  his  ardent  mind, 
and  casual  remarks,  not  only  which  he  had  made,  but  those  which  he  might 
■possibly  have  made  in  the  freedom  of  social  intercourse, — from  the  strong 
and  cunning  hand  of  a  zeal  backed  by  popular  prejudice,  which  seemed 
resolved  to  force  him,  against  the  pleadings  of  reason  and  humanity,  from 
Ins  native  fold  to  that  of  Borne. 

Mark  how  an  idle  rumor  has  brought  evil  upon  the  Church  !  The 
rumor  prepared  the  way  for  an  adventurous  assertion  in  the  Board  of 
Trustees  of  the  Seminary,  and  elsewhere.  The  adventurous  assertion 
rendered  the  solemn  pledge  necessary.  The  pledge  rendered  the  peculiar 
process  of  the  special  examination  necessary.  In  the  opinion  of  six  of  the 
examiners,  and  of  the  Bishop,  no  Romanism  was  proved  upon  the  candi- 
date— the  pledge  was  not  yet  accounted  to  have  been  redeemed.  Then  the 
protest  against  the  Bishop's  decision  became  necessary.  The  protest 
brought  the  matter  before  the  public  ;  and  straightway  friends  and  ene- 
mies, the  daily  and  the  weekly,  the  secular  and  the  religious  press,  become 
clamorous  for  an  explanation.  Then  came  forth  that  most  astounding 
production  of  the  age,  "  The  True  Issue  for  the  True  Churchman,"  by 
Drs.  Smith  and  Anthon. — Letter  to  Editor  of  The  Churchman,  1843. 

SUBSEQUENT      EVENTS. 

The  intrepidity  and  energy  displayed  by  Bishop  Onderdonk  throughout 
the  whole  of  this  trying  controversy,  and  especially  in  the  Diocesan  Con- 


160  APPENDIX. 

vention  of  1843,  inspired  the  Diocese  with  the  liveliest  sentiments  of  gra- 
titude and  admiration.  One  illustration  of  this  feeling  may  be  mentioned. 
Immediately  after  the  rising  of  the  Convention,  a  body  of  the  Clergy  of 
the  Diocese,  to  the  number  of  sixty  or  seventy,  as  many  indeed  as  had  not 
left  the  city,  and  on  a  short  notice  could  be  assembled,  met  together,  and 
having  made  the  due  preliminary  arrangements,  moved  in  procession  to 
the  Episcopal  residence,  and  through  the  Rev.  Dr.  Wainwright,  whom  they 
had  chosen  as  their  spokesman  on  the  occasion,  tendered  to  Bishop  Onder- 
donk an  earnest  expression  of  their  thanks,  and  of  their  confidence  in  the 
wisdom  and  purity  of  his  administration  of  the  Diocese.  At  the  conclu- 
sion of  the  interview,  the  Clergy  present  knelt  down  and  received  the 
Apostolic  Benediction.  That  was  a  proud  day  for  the  Clergy  and  for  the 
Bishop,  when,  without  distrust  or  suspicion,  but  in  the  frank  and  cordial 
interchange  of  mutual  confidence,  they  gave  free  utterance  to  sentiments 
worthy  of  the  relation  which  subsists  between  a  spiritual  father  and  his 
children  in  Christ  Jesus.  None  who  were  present  on  the  occasion  can 
ever  forget  the  heartiness,  eloquence,  and  pathos  of  Dr.  Wainwright's  ad- 
dress, nor  the  impressive  solemnity  of  Bishop  Onderdonk' s  response. 

Pending  this  controversy,  a  paper  had  been  established  in  New- York, 
by  the  Rev.  R.  C.  Shimeall,  one  of  the  opposition,  under  the  name  of  the 
Protestant  Churchman.  This  paper,  under  the  auspices  of  Dr.  Anthon 
and  others,  soon  became  the  accredited  organ  of  the  opposition. —  Voice 
of  Truth,  p.  v. 


"OUTSIDE  INFLUENCES"  AGAINST  EESTORATION. 

The  following  passages  are  extracted  from  the  letters  of  "  Aliquis,"  the 
Special  Correspondent  of  the  New-York  Churchman,  at  the  General  Con- 
vention of  1859. 

It  is  painful  to  witness  the  attempts  of  the  enemies  of  Bishop  Onderdonk 
to  prejudice  public  feeling  against  him.  Yesterday  morning  (October 
14th)  two  disgraceful  pamphlets  were  distributed  through  the  Church  * 
One  of  which  was  entitled  "A  Catechism  for  the  Times;  that  is  to  say, 
An  Instruction  to  be  learned  by  the  Members  of  the  Convention  of  the 
Protestant  Episcopal  Church  of  the  United  States,  assembled  in  the  City 
of  Richmond,  October,  1859."  Then  follow  questions  and  answers  raking 
up  all  the  abominable  and  malicious  charges  against  that  persecuted  pre- 
late. I  shall  not  quote  from  it;  for  aside  from  the  form  in  which  it  is 
put,  being  a  malicious  caricature  upon  the  Church  Catechism,  its  contents 
are  not  worthy  to  appear  in  any  respectable  print.  The  other,  entitled 
"  A  Statement  of  the  Facts,"  would  be  more  justly  labelled  "  A  Statement 
of  Lies,"  for  Bishop  Onderdonk  was  not  guilty  of  the  offences  charged. 

Upon  complaint  being  made  by  one  of  the  delegates  that  these  scanda- 
lous pamphlets  should  be  forced  upon  them,  and  the  house  of  God  thus 
shamefully  desecrated, the  President  (Dr.  Creighton)  said  that  he  had  also 
found  them  upon  liis  desk,  and  that  hereafter  nothing  should  be  placed  in 
the  pews  without  his  knowledge ;  that  while  he  was  President  of  the  Con- 
vention he  would  not  allow  it,  and  that  ho  considered  the  distribution  of 
these  pamphlets  an  insult  to  the  House,  f 

*S.  Paul's,  Church,  Richmond,  Virginia. 

t  The  Bert  in  of  S.  Paul's  Church,  ou  being  interrogated  on  the  subject,  bitterly  complained 
that  he  ha  1  unwittingly  been  made  the  instrument  of  the  mischievous  plotters,  by  consenting  to 
distribute  1 1 1 . •  pamphlets,  under  a  pledge  of  secresy,  as  to  the  persons  who  had  committed  them 
to  his  charge. 


APPENDIX.  1G1 

We  nan  only  say,  that  black  must  fee  the  heart,  and  seared  the  conscience, 
of  any  man  who  could  thus  strive  to  injure  the  character  o£  an  absent,  help- 
less Bishop.  His  friends  have  published  nothing  in  his  defence;  his  ene- 
mies have  put  forth  their  Utmost  exertions  against  him.  They  shall  fall 
into  the  pit  which  they  liavo  digged  for  another,  and  the  snare  which  they 
have  laill  privily  shall  catch  themselves.  Truth  must  finally  prevail.  If 
not  here,  certainly  in  the  world  beyond,  the  right  shall  triumph  and  the 
wicked  shall  not  go  unpunished.  *  *  *  * 

It  is  now  ascertained  that  tho  Bishops  have  refused  the  Prayer  of  Bishop 
Onderdonk.  We  almost  involuntarily  ask,  is  this  the  result  of  all  the 
prayers,  and  hopes,  and  labors  of  so  many  in  the  Diocese  of  New-York  ? 
Can  it  be  that  for  three  more  years  her  Bishop  shall  sit  in  ashes,  without 
one  word  of  consolation  1  Has  not  mercy  perished  from  the  earth,  and 
justice  from  the  sons  of  men  ? 

You  cannot  tell,  Mr.  Editor,  what  means  have  been  resorted  to,  to 
influence  the  Bishops  against  the  Memorial.  I  will  give  you  one  instance. 
A  petition  lias  come  into  my  hands  addressed  to  the  Bight  Rev.  Alfred 
Lee,  Bishop  of  Delaware,  by  D.  D.  Barnard,  of  Albany,  stating  that  he 
also  sends  copies  of  it  to  "some  of  the  other  Bishops."  In  it  occurs  the 
following  passage: 

"It  will  hardly  be  denied,  I  think,  in  any  quarter,  that  eight  out  of  ten  of  all  the 
men  and  women  of  the  laity  in  the  Diocese  are  utterly  opposed  to  his  restoration  to 
tho  Diocese.     I  believe  there  is  not  one  parish  in  ten,  if  there  bo  one  in  twenty,  whero 

his  services  rs  Bishop  "would  be  gladly  or  even  willingly  received Should 

the  suspended  Bishop  bo  restored  to  his  jurisdiction,  there  would  1  c  much  of  calm 
Designation  to  a  most  painful  but  inevitable  infliction;  there  would  also  he  much,  and 
probably  much  more,  of  silent  but  resolute  resistance  to  it.  Indeed,  nothing  seems  to 
me  clearer,  t  han  that  he  can  never  perform  Episcopal  services  anywhere  again  in  this 
Diocese,  without  doing  vastly  more  harm  than  good !" 

Again  : 

"And  should  there  be  no  way  of  avoiding  this  [restoration  to  jurisdiction],  if  the 
sentence  is  touched  at  all,  then  I  do  not  hesitate  to  say,  that  much  as  I  or  any  body 
may  commiserate  tho  condition  of  the  suspended  Bishop  [away  with  such  commisera- 
tion ! — it  is  mockery  !"]  and  may  desire  to  see  some  relief  extended  to  him,  it  would 
be  the  solemn  duty  [!]  of  the  House  of  Bishops,  as  guardians  of  the  honor,  the  purity, 
the  peace,  and  safety  of  the  Church  at  large  in  the  United  States,  uot  to  touch  the 
sentence  at  all."  [!] 

We  can,  for  the  present,  only  bow  in  resignation,  praying  God  to  forgive 
all  the  Bishop's  enemies,  persecutors,  and  slanderers,  and  turn  their 
hearts. 


[From  The  Churchman  of  Sfept.  £9,  1S59.] 
DR.    ANTHON    ON  RESTORATION. 

Wo  find  the  following  simple-hearted  announcement  in  the  Times  of  the 
22d  inst. : 

"We  are  authorized  and  requested  to  state  that  the  Rev.  Dr.  Anthon,  of  this  city, 
has  desired  that  his  name  might  be  withdrawn  from  among  the  signatures  to  the  peti- 
tion to  the  House  of  Bishops  for  the  restoration  of  Bishop  onderdonk." 

That  Dr.  Anthon  should  put  his  hand  to  the  plough  and  look  back,  is 
scarcely  worthy  of  remark,  so  far  as  his  conduct,  in  thus  seeking  to  influ- 

11 


162  APPENDIX. 

ence  his  associates,  may  be  heeded  by  intelligent  and  generous  minds.  No 
one  at  all  familiar  with  the  fact  that  he  was  one  of  the  rival  candidates  for 
the  Episcopate  in  this  Diocese  in  1829,  when  Bishop  Onderdouk  was 
elected,  can  fail  to  remember  the  bitter  hostility  with  which  he  has  ever 
since  pursued  the  successful  candidate.  His  opposition  to  the  Bishop  had 
become  proverbial  for  years  before  the  trial,  and.  contributed  greatly  to 
stimulate  the  evil  passions  of  that  eccentric  and  dangerous  divine,  the 
Rev.  James  C.  Richmond,  with  whom  he  acted  in  concert,  during  the 
memorable  season  in  which  the  latter  was  "employed"  (we  u^e  Mr.  Rich- 
mond's own  language,)  "to  hunt  up  charges  against  the  Bishop.;;  The 
Carey  Ordination  also  afforded  him  a  rich  repast.  It  was  his  meat  and 
drink  to  oppose  whatever  Bishop  Onderdonk  might  plan  or  devise.  His 
opposition  to  the  Bishop  in  Convention  has  always  been  signally  marked, 
and  oftentimes  ridiculous  even  to  himself.  We  put  it  to  the  reverend 
gentleman  under  consideration,  whether  he  has  ever  spoken  a  kind  word 
to  the  Bishop,  or  made  him  a  social  call — we  had  almost  asked  whether 
he  has  ever  spoken  to  him  at  all — since  the  hour  in  1829,  when  he  was 
overlooked  by  a  large  portion  of  the  delegates  to  the  Convention  at  the 
time  of  the  election  of  Bishop  Onderdonk. 

Has  not  the  bitter  disappointment  of  that  event  constrained  Dr.  Anthon 
to  misconstrue  and  exaggerate  every  syllable  of  dissatisfaction  that  has 
since  been  uttered  in  his  presence  concerning  the  Bishop  ?  And  are  not 
these  things  characteristic  of  him  ?  Is  it  then  to  be  wondered  at,  that  the 
Rev.  Dr.  Anthon,  should  advertise  that  he  has  withdrawn  his  name  from  a 
petition,  which,  in  all  probability,  he  had  been  strongly,  if  not  heroically, 
urged  to  sign  ?  Is  it,  we  ask,  a  thing  to  be  circulated  by  the  press  as  of 
serious  moment  that  a  man  of  s^ch  mental  organization,  and  in  such  a 
position,  should  suddenly  bethink  himself  that  he  was  about  to  render 
essential  service  to  the  very  individual  whose  election  to  the  Episcopate 
had  contributed  more  than  any  one  thing,  by  the  rebuke  thus  given  to  his 
ambition,  to  enable  him  to  ascertain  his  true  level  in  this  Diocese  1 

In  thus  .discharging  the  obligations  we  are  under  to  ourselves,  the 
Church,  and  the  Diocese  of  New  York,  we  must  acknowledge  that  we  have 
performed  a  task  deeply  humiliating  and  painful.  Lamentable,  indeed,  is 
it  that  clergymen  of  the  Church,  who,  from  their  learning  and  talents, 
ought  to  be  her  shining  lights,  should  thus  subject  themselves,  by  manifest 
deviations  from  the  plainest  Christian  duties,  to  such  strictures  as  these. 

Men  peculiarly  qualified  by  mental  organization  to  form  disturbing 
elements  in  the  ecclesiastical  fabric,  having  once  found  admission  to  the 
Ministry  of  tho  Church,  cannot,  it  is  true,  be  excluded  from  her  Councils, 
but  if  properly  presented  before  the  Church,  their  malicious  oppositions 
and  pestiferous  influences  may  be  greatly  modified.  If  the  Church  would 
only  go  forward  in  her  full  power  and  strength,  manifesting  forth  the 
extraordinary  gifts  of  the  Holy  Ghost,  she  would  find  herself  again  blessed 
with  the  original  power  to  furnish  laborers  meet  for  the  Master's  service. 
But  organized  and  stultified  as  she  is  at  present,  we  must  make  the  most  of 
that  numerous  but  unfortunate  and  pitiable  class  of  human  beings  to 
which  such  clergymen  unquestionably  belong,  and  from  which  it  is  only 
possible  for  them  to  escape,  by  prayer  and  supplication  before  God  for  a 
good  conscience  and  a  right  judgment. 

Since  the  above  was  penned,  the  following  communication,  published  in 
the  Express  of  the  27th,  in  relation  to  Dr.  Anthon's  public  withdrawal  of 
his  name  from  the  petition,  was  put  into  our  hands.  Supporting  as  it  does 
our  own  positions,  we  give  it  a  place  in  our  columns  : 


APPENDIX.  163 


To  the  Editors  of  the  New- York  Express: 

We  have  scarcely  been  able  to  take  up  a  newspaper  for  several  days  past  without 
having  oar  attention  attracted  by  the  carcl  from  a  reverend  gentleman  of  the  Episcopal 
Church  who,  as  he  attaches  such  particular  importance  to  the  fact  that  he  has  with- 
drawn his  name  from  the  Memorial  to  the  General  Convention  for  the  restoration  of 
Bishop  I  (nderdonk,  is  as  particularly  desirous  that  the  public  should  know  it.  It  is  not 
the  object  of  your  correspondent  to  discuss  the  merits  of  tho  question,  whether  there 
can  be  any  impropriety  or  detriment  to  the  Church  in  an  act  of  charitable  forgiveness 
by  a  Christian  Legislative  Body  towards  a  man  now  approaching  the  verge  of  the 
grave,  who,  having  suffered  its  proscription  for  so  many  years,  lias  nevertheless  been, 
doubtless,  comforted  with  the  assurance  that,  whatever  errors  he  may  have  committed 
through  life,  have  been  long  ago  forgiven  by  his  Heavenly  Father,  and  of  whose  pres- 
ent sincerity  of  spirit  or  purity  of  heart  there  can  bo  no  question.  But,  the  disposition 
evinced  by  a  clergyman,  occupying  so  prominent  a  position  in  tho  Church  as  this  rev- 
erend doctor,  to  regale  the  public  with  an  evidence  of  his  bitter  vindictiveness,  when 
the  withdrawal  of  his  name  from  the  Memorial  could  have  been  effected  quite  as  surely 
in  a  more  private  way,  is  a  lamentable  illustration  of  that  unchristian  spirit  which  can 
suffer  a  minister  of  the  Gospel  to  cherish  feelings  so  utterly  at  variance  with  the  doc- 
trines he  teaches.  The  reverend  gentlemen  having  probably  in  contemplation  the  eager- 
ness with  which  he  cast  the  first  stone,  some  fifteen  years  ago,  seems  quite  as  anxious 
to  prove  the  permanency  of  his  hatred  by  casting  the  last  one.  Let  us  hope,  however, 
that  the  damage  will  not  be  as  great  as  the  originator  seems  to  anticipate,  and  1  think 
we  are  safe  in  feeling  assured,  whatever  may  lie  the  effect  of  this  single  act  on  the 
General  Convention,  that  it  Will  be  somewhat  inferior  to  the  reverend  gentleman's  ex- 
pectation.  The  little  circumstance  which  has  called  forth  this  communication,  brings 
to  the  writer's  painful  remembrance  that  day  in  the  history  of  our  Church,  when  at 
the  last  Ordination.  I  believe,  by  our  suspended  Bishop,  your  correspondent  witnessed 
the  most  striking  illustration  of  ungovernable  passion  from  this  same  clergyman,  that 
ever  disgraced  a  Christian  assemblage,  when,  with  a  countenance  paled  by  anger,  he 
turned  his  back  on  the  Liturgy  of  his  Church  and  the  Communion  Table  of  his  Lord, 
having  struck  the  first  blow  on  the  wedge  which  divided  the  Church  in  this  country. 
Placing  these  recollections  together  with  this  last  act  of  the  same  spirit,  it  becomes  ap- 
parent to  any  reasonable  mind  that  whatever  may  be  the  extent  of  the  reverend  gen- 
tleman's knowledge  in  questions  of  theology,  he  has  yet  to  learn  the  first  rudiments  of 
Christianity  in  the  exercise  of  charity  and  love,  and  probably  has  more  occasion  than 
S.  Paul  to  be  cautious,  "  lest  after  having  preached  to  others  he  himself  should  be  a  cast- 
away." 

A  Chukciimax. 


[From  The  Churchman  of  October  C,  1859.] 
THE  DIOCESAN  CONVENTION  OF  1859  AND  BISHOP  ONDERDONK. 

The  prominent  feature  of  the  recent  Diocesan  Convention,  was  the  case 
of  Bishop  Onderdonk,  which,  at  the  very  last  moment  before  the  assem- 
bling of  that  body,  it  was  announced  would  not  be  presented  for  action. 
This  unexpected  termination  of  the  matter  on  the  part  of  those  who  had 
originated  and  promoted  the  movement  for  the  Bishop's  restoration,  was 
produced,  it  is  understood,  by  the  "  pressure  from  without,"  coupled  with 
the  apprehension  that  the  proposition  could  not  command  that  support 
which  was  desirable  and  essential,  and  that  defeat  would  forever  preclude 
the  possibility  of  the  Bishop's  restoration.  It  was  authoritatively  stated  that 
the  Memorial  itself  had  been  withdrawn  by  the  Bishop,  and  all  tho  papers 
in  the  case  returned  to  their  respective  authors.  Churchmen  who  had  long 
and  ardently  labored  in  the  good  work,  were  suddenly  admonished  by  the 
world  that  they  should  now  be  silent ;  that  what  they  had  already  done  in 
the  fear  of  God  and  in  love  for  the  Church,  on  this  interesting  and  recently 
absorbing  topic,  must  be  as  though  it  had  never  been.  "  The  peace  of 
Zion,"  said  the  world,  "  must  not  be  disturbed  ; "  and  the  Church,  awed 
into  submission  by  the  menacing  mandate,  pushed  aside  the  object  of  her 


1(34  APPENDIX. 

solicitude  and  care,  at  the  very  moment  that  he  was  throwing  himself  upon 
her  hands  for  mercy  and  protection  !  But  so  it  was  :  and  so  Ave  record 
the  sudden  and  hmiliating  turn  given  to  the  case. 

As  soon  as  this  remarkable  state  of  things  reached  the  ears  of  Dr.  A'in- 
ton,  he  gave  notice  that  he  would  bi'ing  the  case  before  the  Convention, 
even  at  the  hazard  of  being  left  alone  in  the  attempt.  This  announcement 
went  through  the  House  like  an  electric  shock;  and  in  twenty-four  hours 
the  subject  was  spoken  of  in  every  part  of  the  city.  With  a  single  ex- 
ception, the  entire  lay  delegation  from  Trinity  Church  were  arrayed  in 
open  hostility  to  the  measure.  But  neither  they  nor  the  most  urgent  re- 
monstrances of  numerous  and  long-tried  yet  mistaken  friends  of  the  Bishop, 
availed  with  Dr.  Vinton.  He  had  already  declared  what  he  intended  to 
do;  and  great  was  fhe  sensation,  when  the  House  fully  realized,  that 
among  its  distinguished  members,  there  had  been  found  one  bold  enough 
to  state  openly  that  he  should  stand  forth,  before  the  close  of  the  session, 
as  the  unflinching  advocate  of  immediate  action — proclaiming,  at  the  same 
time,  the  truth,  the  whole  truth,  concerning  the  men,  the  Memorial,  and  the 
other  papers  connected  with  this  most  extraordinary  affair.  He  should 
also  indicate,  as  far  as  in  him  lay,  what  he  conceived  to  be  the  solemn 
duty  of  the  Diocese  of  New-York  to  its  stricken  Head,  the  suspended,  suf- 
fering Bishop. 

Lamenting  most  deeply  that  he  stood  alone  in  what  he  was  about  to  do, 
yet  expressing  his  unshaken  confidence  in  God  as  to  the  result,  and  turning 
to  the  lay  delegation  from  Trinity,  he  said,  with  commanding  dignity  and 
grace  :  "Brethren,  I  am  conscious  of  your  united  opposition  ; "  then  looking 
upon  the  Convention  at  large,  he  said :  "  I  feel  that  I  have  at  this  moment,  no 
sympathy  in  venturing  to  ask  you  to  co-operate  with  me  in  the  introduction 
of  the  great  question  I  have  at  heart.  But,  brethren,  I  have  a  duty  to 
perforin,  and,  by  God's  help,  I  will  perform  it.  I  would  not,  I  cannot,  I 
dare  not  do  less  than  I  have  proposed  for  myself  on  this  occasion;  and 
may  God,  Who  has  moved  me  thus  to  appear  before  you,  so  dispose  your 
hearts  and  minds  to  receive  what  He  shall  give  me  grace  and  power  to 
utter,  that  the  resolution,  which  I  shall  presently  submit,  may  find  a  merci- 
ful and  unanimous  response." 

The  entire  speech  of  Dr.  Vinton  may  not  only  be  characterized  as  a  bold 
and  fearless  exposition  of  the  great  question  of  Restoration  ;  it  was 
undoubtedly  one  of  the  most  effective  and  stirring  appeals  ever  made  to  a 
legislative  body.  The  sympathy  for  which  he  had  so  recently  sighed, 
begun  to  be  strikingly  manifested.  The  stillness  of  death  pervaded  the 
crowded  church  during  the  delivery  of  this  brilliant  effort,  and  so_  strong 
was  the  Christian  feeling  with  which  it  inspired  all  who  heard  it,  that, 
when  the  reverend  doctor  took  his  seat,  instead  of  the  dreaded  resistance 
to  the  action  proposed  in  the  resolution,  the  utmost  harmony  and  good  feel- 
ing prevailed  in  every  section  of  the  house — the  first  movement  being  a 
kind  and  apologetic  outburst  on  the  part  of  the  Rev.  Drs.  Hawks  and 
Tyng,  ably  and  successfully  vindicating  themselves  against  any  possible 
misconception  concerning  the  fidelity  and  good  faith  with  which  they  had 
so  perseveringly  labored  in  the  Bishop's  behalf,  up  to  the  time  of  the  meet- 
ing of  the  Convention.  The  Rev.  Dr.  Anthon  then  read  a  well-written 
digest  of  his  own  feelings,  aiming  particularly  at  nothing  and  nobody,  ex- 
cept, of  course,  that  it  recommended  absolute  resignation  of  jurisdiction  as 
the  basis  of  Restoration.  But,  evidently,  it  made  not  the  slightest  impres- 
sion on  the  members  of  the  Convention.  The  old  foe  was  expected  to 
strike  a  m-ieh  harder  blow  :  and,  had  a  vote  been  taken  that. evening,  in 
all  probability  it  would  have  been  declared  unanimous  in  favor  of  the 


APPENDIX.  1G5 

Restoration  of  tlio  Bishop.  Rut,  as  wo  are  all  more  prono  to  sloop  than 
to  pray  over  what  lias  been  said  or  done  in  tlio  evening,  we  wore  not  sur- 
prised that  the  measure  should  have  hern  opposed  on  thfc  following  day, 
and  improperly  commented  upon  hy  indiscreet  persons.  It  was  surpris- 
ing, however,  to  find  some  of  the  delegates,  both  lay  and  clerical,  includ- 
ing a  popular  preacher  of  one  of  our  city  churches,  consolidating  their 
scattered  and  feehle  opposition,  with  no  prospect  before  them  hut  anarchy 
and  strife,  uttering  sentiments  and  phraseology  unfit  for  repetition  in  a 
public  journal,  making  unmeaning  and  provoking  amendments  and  motions 
for  adjournment,  and  exhibiting,  in  open  defiance  of  the  Chair,  a  spirit  of 
factious  insubordination  that  should  have  secured  their  prompt  expulsion 
from  the  house.  Let  Churchmen  cease  to  rail  against  the  secular  press, 
or  see  to  it  that  the  secular  clement  is  at  once  excluded  from  the  councils 
of  the  Church. 

Thanks  he  to  God,  the  "unruly  wills  and  affections,"  and  the  bombast  of 
the  belligerents  received  at  length  a  keen  and  timely  rebuke  from  the  Rev. 
Dr.  Tyng,  who,  in  a  seasonable,  well-directed,  judicious,  and  eloquent 
speech,  prepared  the  way  for  the  final  vote,  the  result  of  which,  it  is 
believed,  will  not  only  have  its  desired  influence  on  the  House  of  Bishops, 
but  instruct  us,  one  and  all,  of  how  little  value  is  human  calculation  and 
forecast,  when  placed  in  the  scale  with  strong  convictions  of  religious  duty 
and  individual  rights,  and  an  unwavering  faith  in  the  power  of  the  Holy 
Ghost. 


[From  The  Churchman  of  Oct.  18,  1S53.] 
BISHOP  ONDEEDONK  AND  SECEET  SESSIONS. 

It  is  now  ascertained  that  action  was  had  on  Friday  last  on  the  direct 
question  of  the  unconditional  restoration  of  Bishop  Onderdonk,  and  that 
the  vote  stood  eight  in  favor  and  twenty-six  opposed.  The  final  action  of 
the  House  of  Bishops  upon  his  Memorial  is  looked  for  in  this  Diocese  with 
hopeful  and  almost  breathless  anxiety.  Daily  and  hourly  the  question  is 
asked  :  "  What  action  have  the  House  of  Bishops  taken  on  the  Memorial  ? 
Is  there  any  news  from  Richmond  concerning  the  Bishop  ?  What  are  the 
Bishops  doing  ?  Is  no  one  informed  as  to  their  proceedings  ?  Are  the 
Bishops  afraid  to  let  the  Church  know  what  they  have  to  say  on  this  ab- 
sorbing topic  ?  These  and  similar  questions  arising  spontaneously  in  all  sec- 
tions of  this  great  city,  and  coming  to  us  also  from  different  parts  of  the 
country,  indicate  how  wide-spread  and  thorough  is  the  conviction  of"  the 
Dioceseof  New- York  that,  in  the  Providence  of  God,  the  time  has  come 
when  Bishop  Onderdonk  should  be  restored  to  the  exercise  of  his  Episcopal 
functions;  that  he  should  no  longer  be  compelled  to  live  amongst  us  as 
though  he  were  dead,  whilst  his  heart  is  yearning  for  the  gracious  privi- 
leges so  long  denied  and  so  earnestly  prayed  for  by  him  in  that  touching 
and  incomparable  document  now  under  consideration  at  Richmond  (the 
Memorial),  and  which,  for  aught  we  know,  may  have  been  hurried  into  the 
hands  of  a  Committee,  without  even  being  read  before  the  House. 

The  voice  of  our  recent  Annual  Convention  tells  also  in  thunder  tones  of 
a  state  of  feeling  in  regard  to  the  restoration  of  Bishop  Onderdonk,  which, 
to  say  the  least,  should  no  longer  he  trifled  with.  The  Diocese  has  long 
been  brooding  over  the  evils  consequent  upon  the  position  of  the-  House 
of  Bishops  towards  a  prelate  of  the  Church  under  discipline— treated  in 
a  manner  every  way  adapted  to  belie  all  disciplinary  motives  m«  '"nations, 
uttered  or  implied,  or  floating  in  whatever  shape  through  our( 


166  APPENDIX. 

penal  code.  Say  what  you  please,  turn  it  over  as  you  may,  examine  it 
carefully,  you  cannot  escape  the  conclusion  drawn  from  this  practical  re- 
pudiation of  the  Church's  end  of  discipline.  Such  is  the  fearful  example 
of  the  House  of  Bishops  to  the  lambs  of  Christ's  flock.  Whether  such 
painful  effects  he  but  the  natural  result  of  the  unrestrained  deliberations  of 
secret  sessions,  we  leave  them  to  answer  ;  only  remarking,  that  it  is  a  sad 
thing  to  see  the  Bishops  of  the  Church  repudiating  either  Christian  doc- 
trine or  practice.'  Certain  it  is  that  their  conduct  towards  Bishop  Onder- 
douk  finds  no  parallel  in  the  history  of  the  Church.  We  hesitate  not  to 
say,  and  leave  it  to  the  judgment  of  Christendom,  that  if  the,  House  of 
Bishops  were  arraigned  at  the  Court  of  Heaven  touching  their  treatment  of 
the  case  of  Bishop  Onderdonk  and  his  Diocese,  the  God  whom  this  afflicted 
Prelate  has  prayerfully  served  during  fifteen  years  of  "  indefinite  suspen- 
sion" and  consistent  religious  bearing,  would  bring  upon  them  a  calamity 
entirely  at  variance  with  their  preconceived  opinions  of  righteous  judg- 
ment. 

We  may  be  thought  presumptuous  or  wanting  in  respect,  for  thus  ex- 
pressing ourselves  concerning  the  Bishops  of  the  Church;  we  intend  no- 
thing of  the  sort ;  and  it  should  be  remembered  that  we  are  advocating 
the  cause  of  a  Bishop  ;  one  who,  though  under  discipline,  is  none  the  less  their 
equal  in  rank.  We  must  all  do  the  work  allotted  us,  and  whenever  we 
are  compelled  in  our  humble  sphere  to  speak  of  the  dignitaries  of  the 
Church,  we  shall  hope  to  do  so  in  that  respectful  tone  which  can  alone  se- 
cure to  us  their  conviction  of  our  sincerity  and  regard.  As  to  our  right  to 
speak  of  the  Christian  bearing  of  their  conduct  we  have  no  misgivings, 
with  the  Bible  in  our  hand  ;  and  feel  convinced  that  the  ablest  opponent  of 
restoration  in  the  secret  conclave  of  mitred  heads,  could  not  gainsay  or  re- 
sist the  force  of  our  remarks  on  this  point.  The  sword  of  the  Spirit  will 
penetrate  and  divide,  even  though  it  be  in  the  hand  of  a  child. 

Manifestly  and  demonstrably  true  is  it,  that  our  Bight  Beverend  Fathers, 
as  a  body,  have  not  followed  Christ  for  their  example,  if  one  may  judge  from 
what  has  found  its  way  to  the  public,  respecting  the  Diocese  of  New  York 
and  its  Bishop.  A  worldly,  time-serving  policy  may  suggest  potent  reasons 
for  not  pulling  out  of  the  Bishop  the  stake  that  fastens  his  body  to  the 
ground  •  but  that  "  love  of  Christ  which  constraineth  as,"  and  ever  over- 
flows in  the  Christian  heart  for  helpless  humanity,  especially  when  the  dis- 
cipline of  the  Church  has,  confessedly,  accomplished  the  work  for  which  it 
was  designed,  cries  aloud  for  unconditional  restoration. 

It  is  our  opinion  that  if  the  sessions  of  the  House  of  Bishops  had  been 
conducted  openly  in  the  face  of  all  men,  Bishop  Onderdonk  would  not  oc- 
cupy his  present  humiliating  position  before  the  Church,  No  good  and 
sufficient  reason  can  be  given  for  these  secret  sessions.  We  have  yet  to 
learn  that  they  have  a  solitary  defender  in  civil  or  religious  life,  outside  of 
their  own  body.  And  has  it  not  frequently  occurred  to  the  Bishops  them- 
selves, that  secret  sessions  of  Ecclesiastical  bodies  convened  for  legislative 
purposes,  but  especially  when  resolvable  at  pleasure  into  Courts  for  the 
trial  of  offences,  are  liable  to  untold  abuse,  dangerous  alike  to  the  charac- 
ter of  institutions  and  individuals,  and  altogether  unsuited  to  the  free  and 
enlightened  government  of  the  United  States  ? 

Humiliating  and  painful  to  the  last  degree  is  it,  as  well  to  the  Diocese  of 
New  York  as  to  the  American  mind,  to  be  waiting  in  hourly  anxisty  to 
know  the  result  of  a  secret  deliberation  involving  the  civil  rights  and  offi- 
cial life  of  a  Bishop,  once  the  most  powerful  on  the  American  Bench,  and 
also  the  rights  and  privileges  of  the  largest  and  most  influential  Diocese, 
with  which  he  stands  connected,  though  powerless  by  reason  of  his  suspen- 
sion. 


APPENDIX.  1G7 

If  nothing  else  will  bring  the  House  of  Bishops  to  abandon  this  anti- 
republioan  and  destructive  policy  of  discussing,  deliberating,  and  legislating 
in  secret  concerning  individual  rights  and  privileges  with  which  we  are 
all  more  or  less  concerned,  we  trust  that  tho  same  public  opinion  which 
they  so  strongly  profess  to  repudiate,  but  which  they  SO  religiously  observe 
and  respect,  will  force  them  into  a  right  judgment,  by  demanding  admis- 
sion to  their  deliberations. 

Tho  Rev.  Dr.  Adams,  in  a  recent  speech  before  the  House  of  Clerical  and 
Lay  Deputies,  remarked  that — "  No  House  of  Bishops,  save  our  own,  since 
the  creation  of  the  Church,  has  ever  been*  known  to  sit  with  closed  doors. 
The  first  House  of  Bishops,  composed  of  the  Apostles,  elders,  and  brethren, 
sat  with  open  doors,  and  the  public  listened  to  their  deliberation^.'' 

Why,  then,  should  tho  members  of  the  American  branch  of  the  Catholic 
Church  bo  subjected  to  the  evils  growing  out  of  such  proceedings  ?  Why 
should  any  one  Diocese  be  kept  in  darkness  respecting  any  incpiisitorial  ex- 
amination which  may  suddenly  be  instituted  concerning  tho  conduct  and 
character  of  its  Diocesan,  should  he,  from  some  disability,  happen  to  be  ab- 
sent from  the  sittings  of  the  House  of  Bishops  ?  If  the  Holy  Inquisition 
of  the  Roman  Church,  or  something  allied  thereto  or  worse,  is  to  be  estab- 
lished in  our  midst  by  a  conclave  of  our  own  Bishops,  we  are  not  among 
the  number  to  yield.  Neither  do  we  mean  to  be  taken  by  surprise ;  nor 
are  we  discoursing  about  a  phantom.  Already  is  the  Church  beginning  to 
feel  the  withering  influence  of  these  secret  inquisitorial  bodies.  The  Diocese 
of  New-York  is  groaning  under  the  iron  heel  of  the  oppressor,  who  mocks 
the  mournful  appeal  of  its  stricken  Head  with  a  taunt,  by  bidding  him  do 
some  direful  evil  to  himself  and  the  Church,  in  order  to  effect  his  restoration 
— such  a  thing,  for  instance,  as  the  resignation  of  jurisdiction,  which,  in  our 
judgment,  should  only  be  yielded  up,  under  the  circumstances,  with  the 
natural  life  of  the  incumbent. 

Resignation  the  condition  of  restoration !  Why  not  decapitation  1 
Surely  that  would  be  preferable,  inasmuch  as  it  would  relieve  his  perse- 
cutors of  their  forebodings,  lest  at  any  time,  as  has  been  suggested,  he 
should  be  found,  by  invitation,  officiating  or  administering  in  the  Diocesei 
Still  "resignation"  is  the  watch-word.  "  It  will  render  him  eligible." 
Hitherto,  be  was  assured,  by  all  that  was  sacred  and  solemn  in  human 
integrity  and  Episcopal  character  that  "penitence"  was  all  that  was  needed 
to  secure  to  him  the  resumption  of  Episcopal  powers.  But  alas  for  human 
promises  and  human  hopes !  Only  a  short  time  can  elapse  before  Bishop 
Onderdonk  and  his  relentless  pursuers  shall  meet  side  by  side  at  the  bar 
of  God.  And,  if  we  are  at  liberty  to  judge  of  trees  by  their  fruits,  many 
of  bis  maligners  and  oppressors  will  wish  themselves  back  in  this  sublu- 
nary sphere,  if  it  were  only  long  enough  to  say  a  single  word,  or  cast  a 
single  vote,  to  relieve  the  broken  and  contrite  heart  of  a  loving  and  affec- 
tionate Christian  Bishop.     But  it  will  then  be  too  late  ! 

Touching  the  undue  exercise  of  Episcopal  power,  it  may  be  well  to  re- 
mark, that  only  a  few  years  ago,  one  of  the  members  of  the  present  House 
of  Bishops  gravely  suggested  the  establishment  of  an  Ecclesiastical  censor- 
ship of  the  Press !  To  be  sure  it  was  publicly  uttered,  and  as  publicly  and 
promptly  denounced  in  these  columns.  But  precisely  how  much  attention 
was  bestowed  in  secret  session  upon  that  interesting  topic,  we  have  no 
means  of  ascertaining.  It  was  probably  submitted  to  the  Bench,  and  found 
to  be  a  little  too  much  at  variance  with  the  progi-essive  spirit  of  the  age. 

Wanting  confidence,  as  we  frankly  confess  Ave  do,  in  the  tendency  of  se- 
cret sessions  to  exemplify  and  encourage  those  Christian  virtues,  tho  posses- 
sion of  which  reflects  such  lustre  on  the  Church  of  Christ,  and  the  absence 
of  which  tends  so  materially  to  the  dishonor  of  her  name  and  the  disgrace 


168  APPENDIX- 

of  her  high  council  chamber,  we  shall  never  relax  our  endeavors  to  assist 
the  venerable  body  under  consideration,  in  arriving  at  the  wholesome  con- 
clusion to  conduct  their  future  legislation  with  less  regard  to  the  secresy  of 
their  deliberations. 

We  are  impelled  to  these  remarks  from  a  high  sense  of  duty  to  the 
Church,  rising  above  all  personal  or  official  considerations,  and  in  the  hum- 
ble hope  that  they  will  contribute  in  some  way,  however  remote,  to  the 
abandonment  of  a  practice  so  hostile  to  the  wishes  and  feelings  of  ninety- 
nine  hundredths  of  the  clergy  and  laity,  and  pregnant  with  evil  in  its  bear- 
ings on  all  questions  of  vital  importance  to  the  Church. 

Returning  to  the  restoration  of  Bishop  Onderdonk,  we  cannot  but  hope 
that  something  will  yet  be  done,  by  the  House  of  Bishops,  to  relieve  both 
him  and  the  Diocese  of  New- York  from  the  anomalous  position  in  which 
they  have  been,  either  accidentally  or  unavoidably,  placed,  ever  since  the 
year  1845  ;  a  state  of  things  now  provided  against  by  legislation,  and  the 
benefits  of  which  it  is  manifest  is  in  the  power  of  our  Right  Rev.  Fathers  to 
make  available  to  the  necessities  of  the  case. 

But  after  all,  those  who  understand  this  question,  and  who  were  present 
at  the  late  Annual  Convention,  must  be  convinced  that  this  great  matter  of 
restoration  is  almost  entirely  in  the  hands  of  the  Provisional  Bishop  of  the 
Diocese.  If  he  desires  to  see  Bishop  Onderdonk  restored,  and  boldly  advo- 
cates the  measure  as  one  perfectly  compatible  with  the  free  exercise  of  his 
own  rights  and  privileges,  it  cannot  fail  to  be  accomplished.  The  Bishops 
could  not  deny  his  request.  He,  therefore,  above  all  others,  is  earnestly 
looked  up  to  by  the  Diocese  to  whom  in  the  presence  of  God  and  with  great 
emotion,  he  solemnly  said :  "  If  I  go  to  Richmond,  you  will  find  in  me  no 
enemy."  Now  we  follow  a  great  example  when  we  take  this  declaration  to 
imply  action,  prompt,  efficient,  timely,  heartfelt  action  ;  if  it  does  not,  it  is 
an  unmeaning  and  valueless  utterance  ;  and  that  is  something  which  our 
natural  instincts  forbid  us  to  believe  could  emanate  from  the  Christian  gen- 
tleman and  Bishop  now  Provisionally  presiding  over  the  affairs  of  this 
important  Diocese. 


[From  The  Cfairchman,  December  27,  1S60.] 

OMISSION  OF  BISHOP  ONDERDONK'S  NAME  FROM  CONVENTION 

JOURNALS. 

We  have  received  the  Journal  of  the  Proceedings  of  the  Seventy-seventh 
Convention  of  the  Church  in  this  Diocese,  published  for  the  Convention  by 
Daniel  Dana,  Jr.,  381  Broadway.  Many  matters  for  comment  are  sugges- 
ted by  a  perusal  of  its  formidable  table  of  "  Contents,"  some  of  which 
we  hope  shortly  to  find  time  to  ventilate.  We  must,  however,  be  satisfied, 
at  the  present  time,  with  a  simple  allusion  to  the  singular  disappearance 
from  the  "  List  of  the  Clergy,"  of  the  name  of  Bishop  Onderdonk,  the 
Bishop  of  the  Diocese. 

It  strikes  us  that  there  is  a  manifest  propriety  in  printing  the  name  of 
the  Bishop  along  with  that  of  the  Provisional  Bishop.  Indeed,  we  can 
think  of  no  good  reason  for  excluding  the  name  of  the  suspended  Bishop, 
and  thus  blotting  out  the  record  of  the  folly  which  placed  this  Diocese  in  its 
present  unfortunate  position.  It  may  be  that  Bishop  Onderdonk  himself  re- 
quested the  omission.  Still  "justice  to  the  Church  in  the  Diocese  of  New- 
York"  requires  that  it  should  remain  in  its  place  upon  the  Journal.  No  one 
can  suppose  for  a  moment  that  Bishop  Onderdonk  is  justified  by  the  Church 
at  large  for  not  instituting  civil  proceedings  for  the  recovery  of  his  full 
salary ,  and  consequent  settlement  of  the  vexed  and  ever-disturbing  question 


APPENDIX.  1G9 

of  restoration,  especially  when  guaranteed  against  pecuniary  loss  by  a  dis- 
interested layman  of  the  Church.  The  fact  that  his  peace  of  mind  would 
thereby,  have  been  disturbed,  rendered  it  no  less  obligatory  on  him  to  make 
the saorifice.  Nor  can  any  right-thinking  person  suppose  that  his  request, 
or  even  his  demand, to  have  his  name  left  out  of  the  only  authorized  "List  of 
the  Clergy"  of  the  Diooese,  is  a  sufficient  reason  for  an  offieer  of  the  Conven- 
tion to  Omit  it.  Its  publication  should  remain  as  tlie  official  declaration  of 
the  injury  inflicted  on  a  great  and  growing  Diocese,  hy  the  unjust  and  cruel 
sentence  of  "indefinite  suspension,"  under  which  Bishop  Onderdonk  is  still 
suffering.  Instead  of  quietly  leaving  his  name  out  of  the  Journal,  either 
by  request  or,  as  we  fear,  through  design,  every  Churchman  should  fervent- 
ly pray  and  earnestly  work  for  his  restoration  to  the  functions  of  his  holy 
office:  for,  surely  the  Diocese  of  New-York,  more  than  any  other  in  the 
American  Church,  needs  the  energetic  supervision  and  governing  capacity 
so  signally  centring  in  Bishop  Ondcrdonk  as  a  presiding  officer  and  manag- 
ing Ilead. 


[From  The  Churchman,  January  17,  1S0L] 

On  referring  to  the  Proceedings  of  the  Convention  of  the  Diocese  of 
New- York,  we  find  that  not  only  has  the  name  of  Bishop  Onderdonk  been 
left  out  of  the  official  list  of  the  clergy  in  the  Journals  published  within 
the  last  two  or  three  years,  but  that  it  has  been  omitted  ever  since  his  sus- 
pension from  the  duties  of  his  office.     The  Journals  of  the  Diocese  of  New- 
York  are,  therefore,  at  variance  with  those  of  the  General  Convention  ; 
this  last-mentioned  body  having  printed  his  name  in  1847  in  the  official 
list  of  the  clergy,  as  the  Bishop  of  the  Diocese  of  New-York,  with  Ihe 
addition  of  the  word  suspended.     It  may  be  supposed,  however,  by  some, 
that,  as  there  was  no  acting  Bishop  of  New-York  at  that  time,  to  furnish 
the  list  of  clergy,  required  by  Canon  I.  of  1834,  the  Secretary  ot  the  General 
Convention  was  obliged  to  "copy  from  the  Journal  of  the  last  Diocesan  Con- 
vention," and  that  in  this  way,  the  name  of  Bishop  Onderdonk  came  to  be 
included  in  the  list.     This  could  not  have  been  the  case,  however,  as  the 
preceding  Diocesan  Journal  did  not  contain  the  Bishop's  name.  Its  insertion, 
therefore,  in  the  Journal  of  the  General  Convention,  must  resolve  itself 
into  a  principle,  involving  the  rights  of  the  Bishop  and  the  interests  of  the 
Church  at  large.     Nor  would  any  other  view  explain  the  fact  that,  at  the 
succeeding  General  Convention  in  1850,  the  "'  Episcopal  Acts"  performed 
at  the   request  of  the  Standing  Committee  are  credited,  in  a  "  Tabular 
View,"  to  Bishop  Onderdonk  personally,  as  performed  for  him  by  his 
brother  Bishops.     Neither  would  it  explain  the  additional  record  in  the 
"  Report    on    the    State   of  the    Church,"   in    the  same    Journal,   that 
'•'there  are  in  the  Diocese  of  New  York,  the  Bishop  and  2G4  clergy."  And 
not  a  whit  less  puzzling,  on  any  other  hypothesis,  is  the  statement  in  the 
next  Journal  of  the  General  Convention,  that "  there  are  two  Bishops  in 
the  Diocese  of  New  York."     Nor  would  the  plea  of  any  such  thing  as  an 
accidental   insertion  of  Bishop  Onderdonk's  name  in  the  Journal  of  the 
General  Convention,  explain  the  still  more  remarkable  fact,  that  the  Epis- 
copal Acts  of  the  Provisional  Bishop  himself  are  credited  in  the  same  Jour- 
nal to  Bishop  Onderdonk,  as  if  performed  for  him,  the  same  as  mentioned 
above  in  regard  to  other  acting  Bishops.     Passing  on  to  the  following  and 
last  Journal  of  the  General  Convention,  we  find  the  name  of  Bishop  Onder- 
donk properly  entered  as  the  third  in  the  order  of  consecration,  among  the 
present  Bishops   of  the  American  Church.     Bat,  unfortunately  for    the 


170  APPENDIX. 

Bishop,  in  the  Tabular  View  of  Episcopal  Acts  presented  in  this  Journal; 
as  performed  by  the  Provisional  Bishop,  the  name  of  the  Bishop  of  New- 
York  is  omitted  ! 

But,  perhaps,  we  should  not  censure  the  Secretary  for  thus  selecting,  for 
exclusion,  the  name  of  Bishop  Onderdonk.  He  probably  supposed  that 
the  name  of  a  suspended  Bishop  was  of  less  importance  than  any  other  in 
the  Journal.  Yet  we  cannot  but  hope  that  a  little  reflection  will  satisfy 
him  that  such  is  not  the  fact.  On  the  whole,  we  have  but  little  cause  for 
complaint  against  the  Journals  of  the  General  Convention.  It  is  true  that 
Bishop  Onderdonk;s  name  does  not  occur  in  the  list  of  the  clergy,  pub- 
lished in  the  Journals  of  that  body  after  the  session  of  1847,  the  Diocesan 
Convention  of  1848  having  authorized  the  Standing  Committee  to  perform 
certain  official  acts,  which  they  did — embracing  the  preparation  of  the  list 
—until  the  election  of  a  Provisional  Bishop  in  1852,  on  whom  thisduty 
subsequently  devolved.  Nevertheless,  the  name  of  the  suspended  Bishop 
of  New-York,  is  otherwise  conspicuous  in  all  these  important  Journals. 
Indeed,  we  may  find  in  another  part  of  this  same  Journal  of  1S59,  which 
has  excluded  his  name  from  its  former  position  of  joint  occupancy  with 
that  of  Bishop  Potter,  that  where  the  statistics  require  the  number  of 
Bishops  in  New-York  to  be  designated,  the  "  Tabular  View"  says  '•  two/*' 
Still  the  name  of  the  Bishop  of  New-York  has  been  left  out  of  the  Table  of 
Episcopal  Acts,  and  Bishop  Potter  now  stands  forth  as  the  sole  authority 
for  the  performance  of  such  acts — so  that,  for  anything  which  appears  in 
this  Table,  it  may  be  inferred  that  he  is  the  only  Bishop  connected  with 
the  Diocese  of  New-York. 

Respecting  the  Diocesan  Canon  of  1834,  from  which  the  Provisional 
Bishop  and  others  are  supposed  to  have  derived  their  authority  for  leav- 
ing out  Bishop  Onderdonk's  name  from  the  list  of  the  clergy  presented  to 
the  Convention,  we  have  only  to  remark,  that  no  one  can  suppose  that  it 
was  ever  intended  to  meet  the  case  of  the  suspension  of  the  Bishop  him- 
self, who  is  therein  designated  as  the  sole  person  capable  of  preparing 
and  presenting  such  list.  It  is  only  by  taking  the  utmost  advantage  ot 
the  merest  technicality,  that  the  terms  of  the  Canon  in  question  can  be 
made  applicable  to  Bishop  Onderdonk — a  suspended  Bishop,  with  full 
jurisdiction,  and  the  acknowledged  head  of  the  Diocese — so  that  his  name 
might,  with  propriety,  be  erased  from  the  official  list  of  the  clergy. 

This  forced  construction  of  the  Canon  is  simply  ridiculous,  and  those 
who  feel  obliged  to  be  governed  by  its  vagueness,  should  take  the  earliest 
opportunity  to  obtain  from  the  Convention  of  this  Diocese  an  intelligent 
and  reliable  construction.  Should  this  body  construe  the  Canon  to  meet 
the  necessities  of  the  past,  there  can  be  no  doubt  whatever,  in  the  minds 
of  all  who  duly  appreciate  the  question,  that  the  Convention  would  then 
promptly  provide  for  the  future  insertion  of  the  Bishop's  name,  in  the 
official  list  of  the  clergy.  "We  have  spoken  strongly,  because  we  deem  it 
a  matter  of  no  slight  importance  to  the  Church  that  the  names  of  Bishops 
Onderdonk  and  Potter — the  Bishop  and  the  Provisional  Bishop — should 
each  occupy  its  relative  position  in  the  Journals  of  the  Convention,  and 
because  we  have  been  greatly  annoyed  and  pained  at  the  bitterness  of 
the  animosity  exhibited  by  these  persevering  efforts  to  blot  out  even  the 
name  of  an  aged  and  exemplary  prelate,  from  the  records  of  the  Church 
— conduct  the  more  annoying  because  he  happens  to  be  under  discipline, 
and,  therefore,  in  a  defenceless  position. 

"VVe  cannot  but  conclude,  after  an  impartial  review  of  this  matter,  that 
the  irregularities,  omissions,  and  encroachments,  attending  the  printing  of 
the  names  of  Bishop  Onderdonk  and  the  Provisional  Bishop  in  the  Jour- 
nals of  the  Church,  are  governed  less  by  Canonical  regulations  than  by  the 


APPENDIX.'  171 

rancor  of  that  personal  hatred  and  ill-will  which  so  industriously  circu- 
lated the  slanders  that  led  to  his  presentment  and  trial,  and  which  have 
so  unscrupulously  followed  him  through  the  whole  period  of  his  illegal 
and  cruel  sentence — a  sentence  which  tho  General  Convention  itself  has 
declared  shall  never  again  bo  inilicted  on  an  "  erring  brother"  of  the 
House  of  Bishops,  but  which  tho  majority  of  that  body  has  not  yet  had 
tho  magnanimity  to  remove,  or  modify,  in  accordance  with  such  declara- 
tion. If,  as  indicated  by  the  result  of  successive  applications  for  relief, 
Bishop  Onderdonk  is  not  soon  to  be  actively  engaged  in  the  exercise  of 
his  Episcopal  duties,  let  us  at  least  hope  that  his  name  will  at  once  bo 
restored  to  the  position  which  it  should,  of  right,  occupy,  at  the  head  of 
the  List  of  the  Clergy  of  the  Diocese  of  New-York. 


BISHOP  ONDERDONK  REASSERTS   HIS    ENTIRE    INNOCENCE  ON  HIS 
DEATHBED. 

The  following  is  the  letter  from  tho  Rev.  Dr.  Yinton  to  the  Rev.  Dr. 

Seabury,  respecting  tho  last  illness  of  Bishop  Onderdonk.     AYe  commend 

it  to  the  special  notice  of  those  Bishops  who  have  so  unreasonably  assailed 

the  deceased  prelate,  because  he  would  not  confess  that  he  was  guilty  of 

crimes  of  which  he  was  innocent  : 

Trinity  Church,  New- York,  ) 
May  10  th,  1861,  J 

My  Dear  Sir — I  have  been  requested  to  write  the  statement  which  I 
made  at  the  funeral  of  tho  late  Bishop  of  New-York,  and  from  the  pulpit 
of  Trinity  Church.     I  add  also  a  few  particulars. 

On  Friday,  April  2Gth,  I  called  on  Bishop  Onderdonk  and  went  up  stairs 
to  visit  him  on  his  sick  bed.  His  son  was  in  the  room,  ministering  his 
nursing  care  with  tenderness,  with  whom  it  was  my  privilege  to  co-operate. 
The  Bishop,  though  very  weak  in  body,  was  fully  possessed  of  his  mind, 
and  conversed  quite  freely.  Among  the  subjects  of  communication  he 
spoke  with  ardent  satisfaction  of  the  visit  just  received  from  the  venera- 
ble Professor  Clement  C.  Moore,  whom  "he  had  not  seen,"  he  said,  •''  for 
fourteen  years."  He  estimated  his  age  and  spoke  of  his  virtues  and  amen- 
ity of  disposition. 

When  about  to  leave  him,  I  suggested  that  if  he  desired  prayers,  it 
would  be  gratifying  to  me  to  minister  to  him. 

He  answered,  lt  Do,  so,  Doctor ;  it  would  be  very  comforting  and 
desirable." 

I  used  the  "Office  of  the  Visitation  of  tho  Sick,"  from  the  beginning  to 
the  end;  adding  the  prayer  for  "A  sick  person,  when  there  appeareth  but 
little  hope  of  recovery." 

The  Bishop  made  every  response  audibly,  while  lying  on  his  bed,  with 
his  hands  clasped  and  eyes  looking  up  to  heaven. 

Among  the  questions  to  be  asked  in  tho  "  Examination  of  the  Sick."  are 
these  :  "  Do  you  repent  you  truly  of  your  sins  ?  Are  you  in  charity  with 
all  the  world  ?"  The  Bishop  closed  his  eyes  while  he  spoke  of  himself  as 
a  sinner,  both  in  thought,  word,  and  deed  ;  saying  that,  "  in  his  most  ear- 
nest endeavors  to  live  for  Christ  and  the  Church,  as  well  as  in  exercising 
himself  to  have  a  conscience  void  of  offence  toward  God  and  towards  man, 
he  saw  infirmity  and  pollution" — then,  opening  his  eyes,  ho  added,  "But 
the  holiest  man,  equally  with  tho  most  sinful,  finds,  in  the  hour  of  death, 


172  APPENDIX. 

that  every  hope  on  which  he  relies  for  salvation  is  dispersed,  hut  One — 
all  but  One,  our  Saviour  Jesus  Christ — He  is  the  Rock  of  Ages."  Then, 
looking  me  in  the  face,  the  Bishop  said,  with  solemn  earnestness,  "  Of  the 
crimes  of  which  I  have  been  accused,  and  for  u-hich  I  have  been  condemned, 
my  conscience  acquits  me,  in  the  sight  of  God." 

In  answer  to  the  other  questions,  the  Bishop  expressed  charity  with  all ; 
forgiveness,  from  the  bottom  of  his  heart,  of  all  persons  that  had  offended 
him  ;  readiness  to  ask  forgiveness  of  all  whom  he  had  offended  ;  and  wil- 
lingness to  make  amends,  to  the  uttermost  of  his  power,  where  he  had  done 
injury  to  any. 

The  Bishop  received  the  final  invocation  and  blessing,  in  the  Visitation 
Office,  with  the  meekness  of  a  quiet  spirit — then  extending  to  me  his  ema- 
ciated hand  and  pressing  mine,  thanked  me,  with  fervor,  and  said,  "God 
bless  you,  my  dear  Doctor.'' 

And  so  we  parted. 

Very  truly  your  brother, 

Francis  Vinton. 
To  the  Rev.  Samuel  Seabury,  D.  D. 


S  E  R  M  O  N 


PREACHED  AT  TITE    FUNERAX  OF  THE 

RIGHT  REVEREND  BENJAMIN  TRE DWELL  ONDERDONR,  D.  D., 

BY  REV.  SAMUEL  SEABURY,  P.P  , 

RECTOR  OF  THE  CHURCH  OF  TIIE  ANNUNCIATION,   NEW  TORK. 


The  followin?  discourse,  intended  only  for  parochial  use,  was  delivered  in 
the  Church  of  the  Annunciation  on  the  Sunday  following  Bishop  Onder- 
donk's  death  ;  and  was  repeated,  with  slight  alterations,  when  at  the  request 
of  his  family  and  a  number  of  his  clergy,  and  with  the  sanction  of  the  Bishop 
of  the  Diocese,  it  became  the  duty  of  the  author  to  preach  at  his  funeral  in 
Trinity  church.  It  is  now  published  at  the  request  of  the  bishops  and  clergy 
who  heard  it,  and  in  compliance  wilh  the  following  Resolution  which  the 
Vestry  of  Trinity  Church,  with  characteristic  liberality  and  with  a  laudable 
desire  to  honor  the  memory  of  their  departed  Bishop,  adopted  and  ordered  on 
their  minutes  : 

Resolved,  That  a  copy  of  the  sermon  on  the  death  of  the  late  Bishop  Onderdonk  be  request- 
ed of  Dr.  Seabury  for  publication,  and  that  one  thousand  copies  be  published  for  gratuitous 
distribution,  and  the  expenses  attending  the  same  be  paid  by  the  comptroller. 

A  true  copy.  ("Signed}  G.  M.  Ogden,  Clerk. 

The  relation  in  which  Bishop  Onderdonk  was  placed  to  the  Church  by  the 
action  of  his  Episcopal  colleagues  and  in  which  he  was  allowed  to  remain  till 
the  day  of  his  death,  gives  significance  to  the  fact  (which  under  other  cir- 
cumstances would  be  hardly  worthy  of  note)  that  his  funeral  was  the  most 
imposing  demonstration  of  respect  and  affection  ever  rendered  to  the  memory 
of  a  Bishop  in  our  Church.  Several  hundreds  of  the  clergy  from  this  and 
the  neighboring  Dioceses,  many  of  them  at  great  personal  inconvenience, 
were  present  ;  and  hundreds  of  laymen,  some  of  whom  had  come  for  the  pur- 
pose from  distant  parts  of  the  State,  sought  in  vain  to  gain  admission  into 
the  church.  An  eloquent  description  of  the  funeral,  taken  from  The  Church 
Journal,  will  be  found  in  an  appendix  to  the  discourse.*  In  this  description 
are  inserted  the  Resolutions  of  the  clergy  of  the  Diocese  and  of  its  Standing 
Committee,  and  annexed  to  it  are  those  of  the  Faculty  of  the  General  Theo- 
logical Seminary;  in  which  the  Bishop  retained  his  professorship  to  the  day 
of  his  death,  though  debarred  for  many  years  past  from  inculcating  on  its 
students  those  sound  views  of  the  nature,  ministry,  and  polity  of  the  Church 
which  he  was  known  to  entertain. 

Next  to  the  comfort  inspired  by  the  approbation  of  God  and  one's  own 

*  Tho  article  from  The  Church  Journal  is  printed  in  a  previous  page  of  this  pamphlet. 


174  APPENDIX. 

conscience,  is  that  which  is  derived  from  the  approbation  of  good  men.  It 
was  the  privilege  of  the  deceased,  if  charity  indeed  may  be  allowed  to  draw 
from  his  words  and  actions  a  favorable  judgment  of  his  heart,  to  enjoy  the 
former  in  no  common  degree ;  and  few  men  more  ingenuously  coveted  the 
latter  when  it  could  be  honorably  obtained,  or  smarted  more  poignantly  under 
the  want  of  it  when  it  was  unjustly  withheld,  or  cruelly  and  capriciously 
withdrawn.  I  shall  not  violate  in  this  brief  note  the  reserve  I  have  imposed 
on  myself  in  the  discourse  which  follows  it :  but  thus  much  I  may  say ;  that 
the  good  opinion  of  those  of  his  own  Communion,  and  especially  of  his  Dio- 
cese, who,  from  the  beginning  of  his  troubles,  confided  in  his  integrity,  or 
who  were  afterwards  won  over  to  respect  him  by  the  silent  eloquence  of  his 
sufferings  ;  and  of  the  many  others,  in  distant  places  and  different  commun- 
ions, who  were  bound  to  him  only  by  the  ties  of  a  common  humanity  and 
religion,  and  by  that  reverence  for  the  safeguards  of  reputation  which  hu- 
manity and  religion  ought  to  inspire,  was,  next  to  the  testimony  of  his  con- 
science and  the  hope  of  again  serving  God  in  the  duties  of  his  ministry,  the 
light  of  his  darkness,  and  the  solace  of  his  sorrow.  This  assurance  is  due  to 
all  who  extended  to  him,  during  the  bitterness  of  his  humiliation,  just  and 
generous  thoughts,  or  spoke  in  his  behalf  kind  and  fearless  words  ;  offerings 
of  small  account  with  the  world,  but  noted  and  treasured  up  by  Him  who 
has  promised  that  a  cup  of  cold  water  only  in  the  name  oj  a  disciple  shall  not 
lose  its  reward.  The  extent  of  this  sympathy  with  the  deceased,  and  the 
hold  which  he  really  had  on  the  hearts  of  his  clergy  and  people,  were  indeed 
unknown  to  him  in  life,  and  only  revealed  in  all  their  depth  and  fulness  after 
his  death  :  bat  it  is  all  right ;  nor  should  we  wish  to  change  what  Divine 
Providence  has  ordered ;  remembering  that  "  men  see  the  end  of  the  wise 
and  understand  not  what  God  in  His  counsel  hath  decreed  of  him,  and  to 
what  end  the  Lord  hath  set  him  at  rest."  S.  S. 

New  York,  Whitsun-tide,  A.  D.  1861. 


DISCOURSE. 


"  He  was  a  burning  and  a  shining  light,  and  ye  were  willing  for  a  season  to 
rejoice  in  his  light." — John  v.  35. 

When  our  Blessed  Lord  had  wrought  one  of  His  miraculous 
cures,  the  Jews  persecuted  and  sought  to  kill  Him,  because  He 
had  done  it  on  the  Sabbath  day.  Jesus  replied  :  "  My  Father 
worketh  hitherto  and  I  work,"  thus  intimating  to  them  that 
though  there  had  been  a  rest  from  the  work  of  creation  (which 
the  Sabbath  commemorated),  there  had  yet  been  no  rest  from 
the  work  of  Providence ;  and  that  the  miracle  He  had 
wrought  was  only  a  continuance  of  that  goodness  and  wisdom 
which  He  in  unity  with  His  Father  had  always  exercised  in 
the  government  of  the  world.  The  Jews  then  sought  the  more 
to  kill  Him,  because  He  had  not  only  broken  the  Sabbath,  but 
had  said  also  that  God  was  His  Father,  in  such  sense  as  to 
make  Himself  equal  with  God.  Our  Lord  embraced  the  oc- 
casion to  declare  to  them  more  fully  the  nature  of  His  office 
and  mission,  assuring  them  that  His  authority  over  mankind 
was  not  limited  to  this  life  ;  that  He  would  be  their  Judge 
hereafter  ;  and  that  in  order  to  the  consummation  of  His 
plans,  all  that  were  in  their  graves  would  arise  ;  they  that  had 
done  good  to  the  resurrection  of  life,  and  they  that  had  done 
evil  to  the  resurrection  of  damnation.* 

That  none  might  reject  Him  for  want  of  sufficient  testimony 
our  Lord  then  declared  to  the  Jews,  that  He  did  not  rest  the 
proof  of  His  authority  on  His  own  word  alone,  but  on  other 
grounds :  His  miraculous  works,  the  types  and  prophecies  of 
the  Scriptures,  and  the  voice  from  Heaven  of  the  Father  pub- 
licly acknowledging  and  proclaiming  Him  to  be  His  Son. 
There  was  another  proof  of  less  consequence  indeed,  but  one 
which  those  whom  He  addressed  had  no  right  to  reject,  be- 
cause they  had  themselves  appealed  to  it ;  and  that  was  the 
testimony  of  John  the  Baptist.  "  Ye  sent  unto  John,"  He  said, 
"  and  he  bare  witness  unto  the  truth  "  that  I  am  the  Messiah ; 
and  though  I  need  not  this  testimony  from  man,  yet  I  insist  on 
it  for  your  sakes  that  ye  may  be  saved.  "  He  was  a  burning 
and  a  shining  light,  and  ye  were  willing  for  a  season  to  rejoice 
in  his  light."     Ye  owned  him  for  a  just  man  and  a  prophet ; 

*  The  introductory  paragraph,  and  a  few  passages  in  the  body  of  the  dis- 
course, not  essential  to  the  connection  of  thought,  were  omitted  in  the  delivery. 


17G  APPENDIX. 

while  lie  lived  he  testified  of  Me  ;  do  not  therefore  reject  his 
testimony  now  that  he  is  dead  ;  but  consider  and  lay  it  to  heart 
that  it  may  work  in  you  that  faith  by  which  you  may  be  saved. 

He  was  a  burning  and  a  shining  light ;  a  lamp  or  candle  as 
the  original  word  signifies,  and  as  the  English  word  light  often 
means  ;  a  lamp  kindled  at  the  fountain  of  Light  and  diffusing 
the  radiance  of  Him  who  revealed  Himself  as  the  light  of  the 
world.  Or  to  express  the  same  idea  without  the  metaphor,  we 
may  say  that  St.  John  the  Baptist  bore,  during  his  whole  life, 
a  distinct  and  impressive  testimony  to  the  truth  and  heavenly 
origin  of  the  doctrine  that  Jesus  Christ  is  the  Son  of  God 
and  the  Saviour  of  mankind. 

This  testimony  of  St.  John  the  Baptist  consisted  both  in 
what  he  did  and  in  what  he  suffered  for  the  religion  of  Jesus 
Christ.  During  part  of  his  life  he  bore  testimony  to  Christ 
in  the  active  duties  of  his  ministry  ;  and  when  his  boldness  in 
preaching  repentance,  and  rebuking  vice,  had  provoked  the 
malice  of  implacable  enemies  and  led  to  his  imprisonment,  he 
then  continued  to  bear  witness  to  the  truth  in  a  life  of  retire- 
ment from  the  world  and  of  suffering  for  his  Master's  sake. 

The  words  which  our  Lord  applied  to  the  Holy  Baptist, 
have  been  often  applied,  in  a  qualified  sense,  to  the  ministers 
of  God  and  other  Christians,  who  in  their  several  generations, 
have  been  lights  of  the  world.  All  such,  while  strength  and 
opportunity  were  given,  have  served  God  in  the  active  duties 
of  their  several  vocations  ;  and  when  debarred  from  these  they 
have  continued  to  serve  Him  in  the  passive  duties  of  resigna- 
tion and  submission  to  His  blessed  will.  From  Christ  the 
light  which  enlivened  their  labors  and  sufferings  is  derived  ; 
for  Christ  the  light  of  their  example  is  manifested  to  the 
world.  However  eminent  or  however  humble  their  station  in 
the  Church,  their  life,  if  they  sincerely  believe  and  practice  the 
Christian  faith,  is  a  testimony  for  Christ ;  a  light  to  the  gener- 
ation in  which  they  live,  burning  and  shining  in  proportion  to 
the  sinceriry  of  their  faith,  and  the  vigor  of  their  charity. 

The  life  of  the  venerable  Bishop  who  has  recently  been 
taken  from  among  us,  like  that  of  every  good  Christian,  has 
been  a  testimony  to  the  truth  and  efficacy  of  the  religion  of 
Jesus  Christ.  But  unlike  that  of  most  others  his  life  has  been 
divided  into  two  distinct  portions  ;  the  one  marked  chiefly  by 
resolute  action,  the  other  exclusively  by  patient  suffering.  He 
is  now  beyond  the  reach  of  human  praise :  and  I  need  not  tell 
you  that  the  object  of  a  funeral  commemoration  is  not  to  eu- 
logize the  dead  but  to  benefit  the  living.  Such  honor  as  is 
due  to  the  departed  and  as  serves  to  promote  this  end,  it  is 
meet  and  right  for  us  1*>  render.  Such  praise  and  commenda- 
tion as  would  defeat  this  end,  and  stir  up  the  smouldering  em- 


APPENDIX.  177 

bers  of  strife  and  jealousy,  even  though  justly  due,  it  were 
needless  to  utter  and  better  to  restrain.  Guided  by  this  prin- 
ciple, which  I  know  would  not  only  be  sanctioned  but  impera- 
tively enjoined  on  me  by  our  departed  father  were  he  to  direct 
my  speech.  I  ask  your  attention  on  this  occasion,  to  a  brief  re- 
view of  his  life  ;  his  acts  and  Bufferings  for  the  sake  of  Christ; 
in  the  simple  desire  to  promote  the  Christian  edification  of  us, 
the  clergy  and  people  who  were  committed  to  his  charge. 
The  tie  which  bound  us  to  our  Bishop  was  never  wholly  sev- 
ered until  it  was  severed  by  death  ;  on  his  part  it  was  always, 
even  to  his  latest  breath,  tenderly  and  affectionately  cherished  ; 
and  its  providential  continuance,  long  after  he  was  restrained 
from  the  active  duties  of  his  ministry,  if  it  do  not  increase, 
will  not.  it  may  be  hoped,  diminish  the  influence  which  the  ex- 
ample of  his  virtues  ought  to  have  upon  our  hearts  and  lives. 
His  father,  a  much  respected  physician  of  this  city,  his 
mother,  a  woman  remarkable  for  strength  of  character,  digni- 
ty of  deportment,  and  Christian  virtue  ;  both  communicants  of 
the  Church,  and  of  high  social  position,  it  was  the  happiness 
of  Bishop  Onderdonk  to  be  devoted  to  God  in  infancy,  and  to 
be  brought  up  in  the  nurture  and  admonition  of  the  Lord. 
Distinguished  in  childhood  by  piety  and  devotion,  by  sincerity 
and  truthfulness,  and  by  a  sobriety  and  gravity  above  his 
years,  he  did  but  fulfil  the  expectations  of  all  who  knew  him, 
when  on  leaving  college  he  set  himself,  in  dependence  on  the 
grace  of  God,  to  prepare  for  the  duties  of  the  Holy  Ministry. 
The  foundation  which  he  laid  and  fortified  at  this  time  was 
the  same  on  which  he  ever  afterwards  stood.  The  fall  of  man 
by  sin  ;  his  redemption  by  the  voluntary  humiliation  and 
sacrifice  of  the  Son  of  God  to  the  capacity  of  pardon  and 
eternal  life  ;  and  the  establishment  of  the  Church  of  Christ 
on  earth  as  the  means  of  preserving  the  true  religion,  and  of 
deriving  from  its  Head  in  Heaven  that  spiritual  influence 
which  is  necessary  to  open  to  men  an  access  to  the  Father 
through  the  Son  and  by  the  Holy  Spirit  on  the  prescribed  con- 
ditions of  the  Gospel  covenant ;  these  were  the  principles,  on 
which  indeed  his  youthful  character  had  been  formed,  but 
which  in  his  preparation  for  the  Holy  Ministry,  under  the  su- 
pervision of  one  of  the  brightest  luminaries  of  the  Church,  be- 
came distinctly  defined  to  his  consciousness,  and  intimately  in- 
wrought with  all  the  fibres  of  his  mind  and  heart.  From  these 
principles  he  never  swerved  ;  in  all  that  he  taught  and  did  for 
the  sake  of  Christ,  they  were  his  constant  guide  ;  in  all  that 
he  suffered  for  the  same  cause  they  were  his  unfailing  support. 
His  discourses,  both  oral  and  published,  were  an  expansion  of 
these  principles  ;  his  government  of  his  diocese,  and  his  agency 
in  the  general   councils  of  the  Church  were  an  application  of 

12 


178  APPENDIX. 

these  principles ;  and  his  patient  submission  to  her  discipline 
was  the  legitimate  fruit  of  these  principles.  His  whole  life,  so 
far  as  it  was  devoted  to  Christ  at  all,  was  a  consistent  develop- 
meat  of  the  one  grand  truth  that  the  institution  of  the  Church 
on  earth,  with  its  ministry  and  sacraments,  in  dependence  on  and 
communion  with  its  Head  in  Heaven,  is  the  divinely  appointed 
and  only  authorized  means  of  recovering  mankind  by  repent- 
ance and  faith  in  the  second  Adam,  from  that  state  of  utter  ruin 
in  which  they  were  involved  by  the  apostacy  of  the  first  Adam. 

Admitted  in  the  twenty -second  year  of  his  life  to  the  Holy 
Order  of  Deacon,  he  was  soon  afterwards  chosen  an  assistant 
minister  of  Trinity  church.  On  attaining  the  canonical  age 
he  was  ordained  priest  at  Newark,  N.  J.,  in  company  with  his 
fast  friend,  the  late  Dr.  Bayard  ;  the  ordination  being  held  by 
Bishop   Ho'oart,  who  had  also  admitted  him  to  the  Diaconate. 

My  personal  knowledge  of  our  departed  Bishop  began  soon 
after  this  time  ;  and  though  then  a  child,  I  still  remember  with 
gratitude  the  pious  and  affectionate  counsel  which  I  received 
from  him.  From  that  time  to  the  present  I  have  known  him 
as  well  and  as  intimately  as  it  is  often  permitted  one  man  to 
know  another  ;  and  I  have  no  hesitation  in  saying  that  in  all 
the  freedom  of  private  intercourse,  I  have  never  heard  from 
him  a  word  which  might  not  have  been  uttered  before  the 
angels  of  Heaven,  or  which  he  will,  in  my  opinion,  wish  unsaid 
at  the  day  of  judgment.  I  mean  by  this  to  affirm  that  in  all  my 
intercourse  with  him  the  strictest  moral  purity  has  governed  his 
words,  and' as  far  as  I  could  see,  his  thoughts  and  affections. 

During  his  connection  with  Trinity  church,  or  at  least  until  his 
consecration  to  the  Episcopate,  Bishop  Onderdonk  was  chiefly 
distinguished  for  his  fidelity  as  a  Parish  Priest.  His  labors  in 
visiting  the  people  committed  to  his  charge,  particularly  the 
poor,  the  sick  and  afflicted,  and  in  instructing  the  young,  were 
systematic  and  assiduous;  and  won  for  him  great  commendation.* 

In  the  pulpit,  Dr.  Onderdonk  was  at  that  time  overshadow- 
ed, in  popular  estimation,  by  the  more  brilliant,  animated  and 

*  In  l-efereuce  to  this  point  it  cannot  be  deemed  inappropriate  to  introduce 
the  following  testimony  from  the  venerable  Rector  of  Trinity  Church  : 

"  Id  1836,  the  Episcopal  Fund  having  reached  the  point  which  was  deemed 
requisite  for  the  support  of  the  Bishop  of  the  Diocese,  Bishop  Onderdonk's 
connection  with  Trinity  Church  was  consequently  dissolved.  The  deep  hu- 
miliation to  which  he  has  since  been  reduced,  and  the  obloquy,  the  scorn,  and 
contempt  with  which  he  has  been  loaded,  will  not  prevent  me  from  exhibiting 
him  as  he  was  in  the  estimation  of  his  friends  and  in  his  relation  to  this  Parish. 

"  I  had  been  at  that  time  in  habits  of  the  closest  and  dearest  intimacy  with 
him  for  thirty  years.  I  became  acquainted  with  him  at  college  in  early  life, 
be  was  my  fellow  student  in  Divinity,  and  as  soon  as  he  was  ordained,  he  was 
associated  with  me  in  the  same  Parish,  from  opening  manhood  till  he  had 
considerably  passed  the  period  of  middle  age.  From  our  common  duties  and 
our  mutual  regard,  we   were  brought  into  constant   intercourse  with  each 


APPEKDIX.  179 

persuasive  eloquence  of  Bishop  Hobart.  Bis  pulpit  discour- 
ses, however,  were  always  acknowledged  to  he  sound,  judicious 
and  instructive  ;  nor  were  thev  ever  wanting  in  those  earnest 
and  pathetic  appeals  which  are  designed  to  awaken  the  con- 
science of  the  hearer,  and  to  impress  on  him  the  distinctive 
truths  of  the  Christian  Faith  in  connection  with  its  awful 
sanctions,  and  under  a  deep  sense  of  personal  responsibility. 

Bishop  Hobart  was  called  to  a'dminister  the  affairs  of  this 
diocese  at  a  time  when,  owing  to  the  laxity  in  doctrine  of  one 
of  his  predecessors  and  the  amiable  forbearance  of  the  other, 
the  real  nature  of  the  Christian  Church,  as  a  society  divinely 
appointed  for  the  preservation  of  the  true  religion  and  the 
salvation  of  mankind,  was  very  imperfectly  understood.  The 
intrepidity  and  learning  with  which  he  avowed  and  inculcated 
the  true  principles  of  the  Church  ;  the  piety  and  eloquence 
with  which  he  recommended  them  ;  the  measures  which  he 
originated  in  his  diocese  for  giving  them  practical  operation 

other,  so  that  all  his  infirmities  and  faults,  as  well  as  his  virtues  and  graces, 
were  laid  open  before  me. 

"  In  his  very  youth  he  was  grave,  sedate,  and  thoughtful,  to  a  degree  which 
is  seldom  seen  ;  correct  in  his  principles ;  pure  in  heart,  and  unspotted  in  life. 
In  his  academic  pursuits  ancl  in  his  preparation  for  the  ministry,  he  was  so 
unwearied  in  his  diligence  and  so  laudable  in  his  ambition  as  to  have  distin- 
guished himself  greatly  in  both.  And  when  he  at  length  entered  upon  the 
exercise  of  his  office,  it  was  with  such  a  devout  temper  of  mind,  such  a  con- 
scientious view  of  his  duties,  and  such  a  fixed  determination  to  discharge 
them  as  within  the  range  of  my  observation,  at  least,  has  never  been  sur- 
passed. These  duties,  in  the  very  outset  of  his  course  in  this  extensive  Par- 
ish, were  exceedingly  heavy.  But  he  never  shrunk  from  any  labor,  he  never 
tired  in  his  own  work,  nor  hesitated  in  an  emergency  to  help  his  brethren. 

"  He  had  at  once  the  physical  strength  which  enabled  him  to  bear  the  ut- 
most degree  of  labor,  and  the  ready  will  to  perform  it  with  cheerfulness. 

"  But  he  was  not  only  indefatigable  in  the  performance  of  his  public  duties, 
but  most  assiduous  and  faithful  as  a  pastor,  going  about  continually  doing 
good,  and  especially  among  the  sick  and  the  needy,  the  afflicted  and  distressed. 

"  This  pastoral  attention  to  the  members  of  the  Parish,  was  a  duty  to 
which  I  had  always  attached  the  greatest  importance  myself,  and  which,  ac- 
cording to  my  ability,  I  had  endeavored  to  discharge.  I  was  constantly 
among  the  people,  where  he  was  held  in  the  utmost  respect  and  affection,  and 
where,  until  several  years  after  his  entrance  into  the  Episcopate,  the  breath 
of  reproach  had  never  reached  him. 

"  Thev  are  witnesses  with  me  how  holily  and  unblamably  he  behaved  him- 
self among  us.  I  doubt  not  that  '  we  may  depart  from  grace  given/  yet 
still  I  have  great  confidence  in  the  general  truth  of  that  promise  of  God. 
'  The  Lord  ordereth  a  good  man's  going  and  maketh  his  way  acceptable  to 
Himself.'  And  I  can  never  be  brought  to  believe,  except  on  more  convincing 
testimony  than  I  have  yet  met  with,  that  one,  who  in  early  life  and  in  riper 
years  delighted  in  His  ways,  and  who  so  highly  adorned  the  vocatioil  where- 
with he  was  called,  has  fallen  into  such  '  wretchlessness  of  living  '  as  is  as- 
cribed to  him,  on  the  very  verge  of  old  age." — [Historical  Sketch  of  Trinity 
Church,  New  York,  by  the  Rev.  William  Berrian,  D.D.,  the  Rector  of  the  same, 
pp.  313-15. 


180 


APPENDIX 


and  effect ;  the  occasions  which  occurred,  in  the  Providence 
of  God,  for  their  enunciation  and  defence  ;  the  courage, 
promptitude,  and  ability  with  which  he  met  these  occasions 
and  turned  them  to  the  advancement  of  the  great  end  and  ob- 
ject of  his  life  ;  the  controversies  which  were  thus  awakened 
and  the  hostility  which  was  provoked  ;  all  this  is  well  known 
to  those  (and  it  startles  me  to  think  how  few  they  have  now 
become!)  whose  memory  reaches  back  to  those  times.  Dr. 
Onderdouk,  from  the  steadiness  of  his  judgment,  and  from  the 
studies  to  which  his  mind,  in  a  manner  quite  independent  of 
Bishop  Hobart,  had  in  early  life  been  providentially  directed* 
was  eminently  fitted,  in  every  trial  and  peril  of  the  faith,  to 
help  his  spiritual  father,  and" to  ward  off  the  shafts  which  were 
aimed  at  him.  Nor  was  he  ever  backward  in  the  discharge 
of  this  duty.  The  press  as  well  as  the  pulpit  attested  his 
ability  ;  and  the  pamphlets  which  he  put  forth,  in  defence  of 
his  Bishop,  with  and  without  his  name,  were  highly  satisfactory 
to  his  friends,  and  conceded  by  all  to  be  able  and  dignified. 
The  sermons,  too,  which  he  published  on  several  important  oc- 
casions added  to  his  reputation  as  a  sound  and  able  divine. 
His  stated  and  occasional  contributions  also  to  periodical 
journals,  through  the  whole  of  his  ministry,  were  of  immense 
service  in  diffusing  a  just  knowledge  of  the  Church,  and  creat- 
ing a  healthy  and  conservative  tone  of  piety  among  her  mem- 
bers. He  was  indeed  a  divine  lamp,  illuminating  the  hearts  of 
the  faithful  with  the  true  light  of  Holy  Writ.t  Essays  on  the 
institutions  and  usages  of  the  Church,  opinions  that  will  have 
the  weight  of  authority  on  her  rubrics  and  canons,  and  exposi- 
tions of  her  doctrines,  designed  to  exhibit  their  scriptural 
warrant,  and  their  practical  "and  devotional  efficacy  (and  vol- 
umes of  these  fugitive  publications  might   be  collected),  are 

*  He  once  told  me  that  about  the  time  he  began  his  theological  studies,  a 
clergyman  from  the  South,  then  sojourning  in  New  York,  called  on  him  and 
requested  him  to  purchase  a  few  volumes  which  necessity  obliged  him  to  part 
with  ;  that  he  purchased  them  to  relieve  the  wants  of  the  applicant,  and 
without  at  the  time  any  knowledge  of  the  character  of  the  books  and  their 
authors.  The  books  were  Johnson's  Unbloody  Sacrifice,  Hickes's  Christian 
Priesthood,  and  others  of  like  character.  These,  he  said,  he  carefully  studied  ; 
and  no  one  familiar  with  his  writings  can  doubt  that  they  had  great  influence 
in  forming  his  theological  opinions. 

f  "  Wherefore  the  persecution  being  at  present  somewhat  abated,  he  re- 
joiced greatly  at  the  tranquillity  of  his  Church ;  yet  was  troubled  as  to  him- 
self that  he  had  not  attained  to  a  true  love  of  Christ,  nor  was  come  up  to  the 
pitch  of  a  perfect  disciple.  For  he  thought  that  the  confession  which  is  made 
by  martvrdom,  would  bring  him  to  a  yet  more  close  and  intimate  union  with 
the  Lord.  Wherefore  continuing  a  few  years  longer  with  the  Church,  and 
after  the  manner  of  a  divine  Inmp,  illuminating  the  hearts  of  the  faithful  by 
the  exposition  of  the  Holy  Scriptures,  he  attained  to  what  he  desired."—  Re- 
lation of  the  Martyrdom  of  St.  Ignatius,  Archbishop  Wake's  translation. 


APPENDIX.  Igl 

proofs  of  a  zeal   and  ability   in  the  cause  of  Christ  and  Ilis 
Church,  which  have  been  rarely  equalled. 

At  the  time  of  which  I  speak  the  cause  of  the  Church  was 
exceedingly  unpopular.  It  was  impossible  to  Btand  up  fully  to 
her  principles  without  forfeiting  reputation  for  liberality  of 
sentiment  and  evangelical  piety,  and  incurring  the  imputations 
of  intolerance  and  bigotry,  and  of  spiritual  blindness  and 
apathy.  The  desolation  and  distractions  which  were  after- 
wards produced  in  this  State  by  what  were  called  revivals  of 
religion,  and  the  remarkable  movement  which  began  about  the 
same  time  in  favor  of  Church  principles  and  usages,  and  of  a 
piety,  steady,  substantial  and  unobtrusive,  in  place  of  that 
which  was  iitful,  erratic  and  demonstrative,  have  had  the  effect 
to  raise  the  character  of  the  Church  in  public  estimation. 
But  in  the  days  of  Bishop  Hobart,  it  was  some  trial  of  a  man's 
courage  to  avow  principles  which  he  has  now  no  temptation 
to  conceal.  In  times  like  these,  Dr.  Onderdonk  was  inflexible  ; 
firm  as  an  anvil"  under  the  strokes  of  heresy  and  schism.  He 
gave  his  Bishop,  both  in  public  and  private,  no  evasive  and 
shuffling,  support.  He  was  never  charged  with  being  a  time- 
server,  nor  with  diluting  his  principles  to  suit  the  popular 
taste.  He  was  never  charged  with  indiscreet  or  intemperate 
zeal  in  the  advocacy  of  his  principles.  The  only  charges 
brought  against  him  were  the  stale  ones  of  bigotry,  narrow- 
mindedness  and  servility  to  his  Bishop  ;  and  the  contempt  im- 
plied in  such  reproaches,  he  estimated  at  its  true  value  :  de- 
siring no  higher  honor  of  the  world  than  to  be  counted  a 
bigot  in  an  heretical  and  degenerate  age. 

On  the  death  of  Bishop  Hobart,  in  1830,  Dr.  Onderdonk 
was  universally  regarded  as  the  man  best  adapted  to  adminis- 
ter the  Diocese  on  the  principles  which  Bishop  Hobart  had  so 
fearlessly  inculcated.  He  was  accordingly  chosen,  with  a 
good  degree  of  unanimity,  to  become  its  Bishop,  and  was  in 
due  time  consecrated  to  that  exalted  office.  To  the  neglect  of 
his  worldly  affairs  and  the  sacrifice  of  domestic  comfort,  and 
with  a  generous  and  guileless  confidence  in  the  affections  of 
his  people,  he  devoted  himself  anew  to  the  Church  of  the  Re- 
deemer. He  concurred  in  all  general  and  authorized  measures 
for  its  advancement,  but  sought  especially,  after  the  example 
of  his  predecessor,  to  give  efficiency  to  the  several  societies  of 
the  Diocese  ;  not  merely  because  they  were  Diocesan  institu- 
tions, but  because  they  concede  less  than  those  of  a  more  gen- 
eral   naturet  to  the  spirit  of  the  age  and  are  more  rigidly 

i  _ » 

a  Lri'/di  idpalog  ug  ukuuv  rvxTOjievoq. — IS*'-  Ignatii  ad  Stmni  Poljcarpum  Epis- 
tola,  Cap.  iii. 

f  No  allusion  is  here  made  to  the  associations,  outside  of  the  Church,  which 
are  designed  to  combine  in  the  di^s  mination  of  religious  knowledge  all  those 


182 


APPENDIX. 


adapted  to  disseminate  the  Word  of  God  in  connection  with 
the  Church  of  God.  In  all  parts  of  the  Diocese,  which  dur- 
ing a  portion  of  his  Episcopate  was  coterminous  with  the  en- 
tire State,  his  appointments  were  numerous  and  punctually  ful- 
filled ;  and  his  services,  especially  his  discourses  from  the  pul- 
pit, were  highly  acceptable  and  satisfactory.  His  annual  ad- 
dresses to  the  Convention  of  his  Diocese,  while  they  prove  the 
extent  of  his  labors,  abound  with  suggestions  of  practical  wis- 
dom ;  while  his  charges  and  occasional  papers,  brought  out  by 
remarkable  events,  are  eminently  worthy  of  their  place  in  the 
archives  of  the  Church. 

It  was  some  eight  or  ten  years  after  his  induction  into  the 
Episcopate  when  the  extraordinary  impulse  which  had  been 
given  to  Church  principles  in  England  began  to  be  felt  in  this 
country.  By  Church  principles  I  mean,  as  I  have  explained, 
those  principles  which  represent  the  Church  of  Christ  to  be 
not  merely  a  national  establishment,  nor  yet  a   Christian  asso- 

who,  whatever  be  their  other  differences  of  opinion,  agree  in  a  profession  of 
faith  in  the  Holy  Scriptures.  With  those  associations,  how  much  soever  he 
might  respect  the  individuals  that  compose  them,  it  was  impossible  for  Bishop 
Onderdonk  to  unite,  inasmuch  as  the  principle  on  which  they  are  founded  is 
antagonistic  to  that  which  had  been  the  guide  of  his  professional  life  ;  and 
which  supposes  the  Church  of  Christ  to  be  divinely  instituted  and  perpetuated 
in  order  to  preserve  the  Holy  Scriptures,  not  only  in  their  letter,  but  in  their 
true  sense  and  meaning  ;  to  guard  them  from  the  perversions  of  error,  and  to 
witness  to  each  successive  generation  the  true  faith  and  doctrine  which  they 
contain.  [See  this  principle,  as  distinguished  from  the  infallibility  of  the  ex- 
isting Church  on  the  one  hand  and  latitudinarianism  on  the  other,  very  ably 
elucidated  by  Bishop  Onderdonk  in  his  primary  charge  to  the  clergy  of  his 
Diocese,  A.  D.  1831.] 

By  institutions  of  a  more  general  nature  I  mean  those  "  authorized 
measures,"  which  arc  mentioned  just  before,  and  which  are  designed  to  unite 
Churchmen  of  different  shades  of  opinion  in  the  diffusion  of  religious  know- 
ledge. These  as  well  as  our  Diocesan  societies  are  formed  on  the  principle  of 
responsibility  to  the  constituted  authorities  of  the  Church  ;  the  difference 
being  that  they  are  held  responsible  to  the  General  Convention  and  not  to  the 
ecclesiastical  authority  of  a  particular  diocese.  Bishop  Onderdonk  cooperated 
with  the  former  and  helped  to  give  them  a  conservative  direction  and  influ- 
ence; but  he  sought  especially  to  give  efficiency  to  the  latter,  not  from  local 
feeling  or  a  desire  of  personal  distinction  (of  which  motives  he  was  incapable), 
but  because,  in  the  existing  state  of  opinions  and  parties,  he  believed  them  to 
be  his  best  auxiliary  lor  diffusing  the  Gospel  without  depressing  the  ministry 
and  sacraments  of  the  Church  on  which  the  Gospel  rests  for  support.  He 
was  proud  of  the  Diocese  of  New  York,  not  for  its  wealth,  its  numbers,  or 
its  relative  position,  but  because  of  its  distinct  testimony  and  steadfast  ad- 
herence to  those  principles  of  the  nature  and  polity  of  the  Christian  Church 
which  had  been  inculcated  by  his  predecessor,  and  which  were  regarded  by 
himself  as  part  of  the  "  sacred  deposit  "  committed  to  his  trust. 

This  note  which  is  meant  to  be  merely  explanatory,  is  oil' .red  with  a  view  to 
guard  against  misapprehension  on  the  part  of  those  Christian  brethren  who, 
as  they  do  not  b  ilong  to  our  Communion,  may  be  supposed  without  offence  to 
be  unacquainted  with  its  distinctive  features. 


APPENDIX.  js,; 

nation  formed  by  pious  and  learned  men  for  the  diffusion  of 
the  Scriptures  and  for  the  promotion  of  a  holy  life  agreeably 
to  the  Scriptures  ;  but  an  orderly  and  visible  society  of  heaven- 
ly nature  and  origin  ;  planted  on  earth  by  Christ  himself; 
propagated,  by  laws  which  Christ  had  given,  to  later  ages  and 
distant  countries  so  as  never  to  lose  its  identity  and  union 
with  its  divine  Head  ;  appointed  by  God  himself  to  preserve 
and  transmit  true  religion  and  to  "be  the  means  to  the  latest 
times  of  recovering  fallen  man  from  his  apostacy  and  of  re- 
storing him  by  the  energy  of  the  Holy  Spirit,  on  his  repentance 
and  faith  in  Christ  our  only  Saviour,  to  the  communion  of  the 
Blessed.  These  principles  were  at  that  time  wonderfully  re- 
suscitated ;  and  they  were  eloquently  and  vigorously  pro- 
claimed, though  in  connection,  it  must  be  admitted,  with 
opinions  and  usages  of  doubtful  or  pernicious  tendency.  The 
heavenly  seed  was  plentifully  scattered  ;  but  with  the  wheat, 
tares  and  weeds  sprang  up,  as  they  arc  wont,  from  the  soil  of 
our  degenerate  nature.  As  an  inevitable  result  the  Church, 
especially  in  this  Diocese,  was  shaken  with  the  winds  of  con- 
troversy. On  the  one  side  the  principles  were  vigorously  main- 
tained in  despite  of  the  errors  that  were  mixed  with  them  ; 
on  the  other  side  the  errors  were  assailed  for  the  very  purpose 
of  stifling  the  principles  which  they  encumbered  and  deformed. 
Of  these  principles  Bishop  Onderdonk  showed  himself  at  this 
time,  what  indeed  he  had  always  been,  the  uncompromising 
advocate.  Applying  his  favorite  canon  of  antiquity,  univer- 
sality, and  consent,  explaiued  and  inculcated  by  him,  after  the 
example  of  Vincentius  Lirinensis  in  a  discourse  published  years 
before  the  Oxford  movement  was  heard  of  in  this  country,  he 
discriminated  the  opinions  and  usages  ;  commending  those 
which  stood  the  test  of  the  canon  of  Vincentius,  and  repudi- 
ating and  condemning  without  stint  those  which  were  of  later 
growth.  In  his  own  Diocese  he  was  sustained  with  enthu- 
siasm by  a  very  large  majority  of  the  clergy  and  a  majority 
of  the  laity.  To  true  Churchmen  throughout  all  the  Dioceses 
of  the  Union,  and  by  true  Churchmen  I  mean  those  who 
adhered  to  the  principles  I  have  defined,  his  name  was  a 
tower  of  strength  ;  while  to  all  others,  the  Bishop  of  the 
Diocese  of  New  York  was  a  stumbling  block  and  a  rock  of 
offence. 

In  October,  1844,  Bishop  Onderdonk  was  at  the  zenith  of 
his  fame  ;  surrounded  by  a  body  of  clergy  who  admired  his 
courage  and  firmness,  and  to  whom  he  was  at  that  moment 
especially  endeared  by  the  noble  stand  he  had  taken  in 'the 
Convention  of  the  week  previous,  in  behalf  of  the  Liturgy  of 
the  Church,  and  in  opposition  to  the  changes  which  were  then 
beginning  to  be  advocated  in  order  to  bring  it  down  to  the 


2g4  APPENDIX. 

level  of  the  times.*  At  the  expiration  of  two  months  after 
this,  our  Bishop  was  buried  alive  :  accused  by  the  Bishops  of 
three  remote  Dioceses  before  a  court  of  their  order,  and  by 
that  court  suspended  from  the  exercise  of  his  ministry  and 
from  the  office  of  a  Bishop  in  the  Church  of  God.  I  leave 
therefore  the  active  portion  of  his  life  with  the  simple  remark, 
that  the  feeble  outline  I  have  given  of  his  services,  but  for  the 
event  which  arrested  his  active  career,  and  which  fell  upon  the 
Church  like  a  thunder  clap  in  a  clear  sky,  would  have  emi- 
nently justified  the  application  of  the  text :  "  He  was  a  burn- 
ing and  a  shining  light,  and  ye  were  willing  for  a  season  to 
rejoice  in  his  light."  Now  as  then,  it  can  be  no  harm,  I  hope, 
to  recount  his  services  and  to  rejoice  in  them,  so  that  our  joy 

*  Towards  the  conclu&ion  of  Bishop  Onderdonk's  Address  to  the  Conven- 
tion of  his  Diocese,  A.  D.  1844,  pp.  96  and  97  of  the  Journal,  occurs  the 
following  passage : 

"  I  have  now,  my  brethren,  completed  all  I  have  to  report  of  a  statistical 
nature.  I  have  not  much  else  to  add.  Something,  however,  I  must,  in  refer- 
ence to  a  new  development  which  seems  to  have  taken  place  in  the  quarter 
whence,  within  a  few  years,  anxiety  has  been  given,  though  no  serious  fears 
have  been  occasioned,  to  the  true  friends  of  Christ  and  the  Church.  Through- 
out much  of  the  agitation  which  has  existed  in  the  Catholic  portion  of  the 
Christians  of  our  country,  the  Church  as  it  is  has  been  the  motto  adopted  by 
all.  To  many  this  seemed  strange  indeed,  convinced  as  they  were  that  the 
Church  as  it  is  was  anything  but  favorable  to  much  of  the  agitation  which 
has  been  going  on.  It  now  begins  to  appear  that  they  were  right.  The 
truer  and  more  sensible  ground  is  taken  that  the  Church  as  it  is  will  not 
answer.  The  Liturgy  is  beginning  to  be  disparaged  as  a  standard  of  Faith. 
Changes  in  the  Liturgy  are  beginning  to  be  advocated  as  necessary  to  bring 
it  down  to  the  times.  This  too,  not  by  open  enemies ;  but  professed  com- 
panions and  friends — from  quarters  whence  '  the  Church  as  it  is '  was  lately 
heard  as  all  that  was  wanted. 

"  I  am  not  surprised  at  this.  Nor  do  I  regret  it.  It  is  the  beginning  of 
that  righteous  balancing  by  which  He  who  is  Head  over  all  things  unto  His 
Church  makes  all  things  ultimately  work  together  for  good.  The  true  issue 
is  now  beginning  to  be  known.  It  is  the  Prayer  Book — for  it  or  against 
it.  Brethren,  you  know  on  which  side  I  would  have  my  Diocese  enlisted. 
Go  for  the  Liturgy.  It  is  the  great  exponent  of  our  faith.  It  is  the  work 
of  no  sect-leader.  It  is  the  work  of  no  one  man,  however  good  and  holy.  It 
is  the  work  of  no  one  age.  It  was  got  up  and  set  forth  for  no  one  special 
purpose.  It  has  come  down  to  us  from  the  purest  ages  of  the  Church.  It 
has  beeu  proved  by  the  safety  and  purity  with  which  it  passed  through  the 
trying  tires  of  Rome's  wicked  hostility  to  the  Catholic  evangelical  system. 

"  I  exhort  you  therefore,  brethren,  to  a  cordial,  enlightened,  and  strict  ad- 
herence to  the  Liturgy.  Be,  as  ye  ever  have  been,  jealous,  with  a  godly  jealousy 
of  every  system  and  every  act,  which  tend  to  diminish  confidence  in  that  pure 
and  holy  standard  of  our  faith.  That  confidence  there  is  now  an  effort  to  shake. 
Take  ye  good  heed  that  ye  be  not  thus  turned  from  your  steadfastness. 

"  Brethren  of  the  clergy  :  I  would  especially  commend  to  your  enlightened 
confidence,  and  your  pious  adoption  as  a  rule  and  measure  of  ministerial 
fidelity,  our  Liturgy's  holy  teachings — as  God's  Word  hath  taught  it — 
touching  the  sacramental  character  of  the  evangelical  system,  and  the 
Apostolical  succession  of  ministerial  trust  and  ageucy  which  it  embraces.     1 


APPENDIX.  185 

in  his  virtues  lead  us  to  imitate  them,  and  to  serve  and  glorify 
Him  from  Whom  alone  all  Christian  virtues  proceed. 

In  passing  to  the  other  portion  of  Bishop  Onderdonk's  life, 
I  must  be  permitted  to  call  your  attention  to  two  facts.  The 
first  is  that  the  verdict  of  the  court  that  tried  him,  was  not 
unanimous,  six  of  the  Bishops  wholly  exonerating  him  from 
the  charges  of  which  the  majority  convicted  him.  The  other 
is  that  although  suspended  by  the  court  from  the  Holy  Minis- 
try on  the  charge  of  immorality  and  impurity,  he  was  not  sus- 
pended from  the  Holy  Communion.  On  the  contrary,  he  was 
permitted  to  live,  and  did  live  from  his  suspension  to  the  day 
of  his  death,  in  the  Communion  of  that  very  Church,  and  con- 
sequently in  the  Communion  of  those  very  Bishops,  who  had 
deprived  the  Diocese  of  New  York  of  his  services,  and  ban- 
ished him  from  the  General  Councils  of  the  Church.  I  do  not 
impeach  the  consistency  of  his  judges  ;  they  kept  in  this  re- 
spect within  the  limits  of  the  canon  ;  I  merely  wish  the  fact 
to  be  noted,  that  though  in  the  declared  judgment  of  the 
Church  he  was  unworthy  of  the  Holy  Ministry  ;  yet  with  the 
full  knowledge  and  implied  approbation  of  the  Church  he  was 
at  once,  publicly  and  with  express  Episcopal  sanction*  ac- 

would  have  you  reverently  receive  its  teachings  respecting  the  awful  myste- 
ries of  our  faith  :  be  they  in  doctrine  touching  the  nature  of  the  Holy  and 
Undivided  Trinity  Whom  it  leads  us  to  adore,  and  His  gracious  acts  and  dis- 
pensations towards  our  race ;  or  be  they  included  in  the  homage  and  duties 
required  in  our  devotion  to  Him.  I  would  that  in  your  teachings  you  would 
impress  upon  your  people  the  near  relation  to  them  of  the  Church  as  it  is,  in 
reference  to  their  steadfast  adherence  to  the  true  faith,  their  safety  from  being 
driven  about  by  every  wind  of  doctrine,  and  their  repose  under  the  shadow  of 
the  great  rock  which  the  Gospel  provides  in  the  weary  land  of  life's  pilgrimage. 

"  To  these  ends,  dear  brethren,  as  means  at  hand,  worthy  of  your  regard, 
and  eminently  fitted  for  efficiency  towards  the  desired  object,  let  me  commend 
to  your  greatly  increased  patronage  our  diocesan  agencies  for  disseminating 
the  Word  of  God  and  the  Holy  Liturgy  of  the  Church,  for  circulating  sound 
and  good  religious  tracts,  for  educating  young  men  for  the  ministry,  and  for 
sustaining  and  encouraging  missionary  operations  in  our  Diocese,  in  this  great 
metropolis,  and  for  the  especial  benefit  of  the  seamen  here  congregating,  and 
for  good  or  ill  to  our  Saviour's  cause,  carrying  to  barbarous  and  unchristian 
lands  what  is  there  regarded  as  a  token  of  what  Christianity  is  worth. 

"  We  are  much  behindhand,  brethren,  in  our  duty  in  these  respects.  I 
would  I  could  make  you  feel  it !  Can  the  love  of  Christ  constrain  you  as  it 
should  constrain  those  whose  hearts  are  truly  moved  by  the  Holy  Ghost, 
while  you  suffer  these  instrumentalities  and  agencies  for  good,  which  God  by 
His  Holy  Church  has  laid  before  you,  to  be  so  sorely  let  and  hindered  in 
their  blessed  efficiency  ?  Answer  this,  brethren,  as  members  of  Christ,  chil- 
dren of  God.  and  heirs  of  a  kingdom  which  will  be  conferred  on  none  but 
good  and  faithful  servants,  those  who  turn  their  Lord's  talents  to  the  accouut 
which  He  requires— those  who  are  willing  to  give,  and  glad  to  distribute,  and 
are  mainly  devoted  to  laying  up  for  themselves  treasures  in  Heaven." 

*  The  Communion  was  administered  to  him,  the  first  Sunday  after  his  suspen- 
sion, in  his  parish  church,  by  the  late  venerable  Bp.  Gadsden,  of  South  Carolina. 


186 


APPENDIX. 


counted,  and  to  the  day  of  his  death  continued  to  be  accounted 
worthy  of  the  Holy  Communion.* 

In  anguish  of  soul,  but  with  characteristic  promptitude,  our 
Bishop  at  once  marked  out  for  himself  the  road  he  was  to 
travel  in  the  bleak  and  inhospitable  region  on  whose  coast  he 
was  wrecked.  He  bowed  to  the  authority  of  the  Church, 
received  his  sentence  with  humble  and  submissive  temper,  and 
resolved  to  conform  to  it  in  its  spirit  as  well  as  its  letter.  He 
not  only  sought  no  opportunity  to  exercise  his  office,  but  he 
withdrew  from  the  world,  that  he  might  devote  himself  in  re- 
tirement to  the  duties  of  a  holy  life.  The  treachery  of  pro- 
fessed friends,  the  neglect  and  ingratitude,  the  violations  of 
decorum  and  charity,  or  what  he  esteemed  such,  ho  could  not 
but  deeply  feel,  and  in  some  marked  cases  resent;  but  his 
resentment  was  that  of  sorrow,  not  of  anger  or  revenge.  The 
spirit  of  meekness  and  forgiveness  dwelt  in  his  heart,  and  dis- 
tilled from  his  lips.     Of  his  accusers  and  of  his  judges  who 

*  The  supreme  legislative  power  of  the  Protestant  Episcopal  Church  in 
the  United  States  is  lodged  iu  the  General  Convention,  which  meets  triennial- 
ly,  and  is  composed  of  two  houses;  the  one  consisting  of  Bishops  having 
jurisdiction  in  the  United  States,  and  the  other  consisting  of  Clerical  and  Lay 
Deputies  elected  bv  the  several  Dioceses. 

The  first  canon  'ever  enacted  by  the  General  Convention,  looking  towards 
the  trial  of  a  bishop,  was  canon  4th  of  1841.  This  canon  was  entitled  indeed 
"  On  the  Trial  of  Bishops  "  but  contained  not  a  word  on  the  subject  indicated 
by  the  title.  It  provided  for  the  presentment  of  a  bishop,  and  for  nothing  else. 
See  the  canon.  It  was  expressly  and  wholly  repealed  by  the  next  Conven- 
tion, or  that  of  1844.  . 

The  canon  under  which  Bishop  Onderdonk  was  tried  was  enacted  in  Oc- 
tober, 1844,  and  has  been  since  repealed. 

The  alleged  offences  for  which  Bishop  Onderdonk  was  tried,  were  alleged  to 
have  been  committed  at  different  times  between  June,  1837,  and  July,  1842. 
All  of  them,  therefore,  if  committed  at  all,  were  committed  before  the  enact- 
ment of  the  canon  under  which  he  was  tried,  and  all  but  one  before  the  enact- 
ment of  the  canon  of  1841. 

The  presentment  was  made  by  the  bishops  of  the  dioceses  of  Virginia, 
Georgia,  and  Tennessee,  after  the  refusal  of  his  own  diocese  to  entertain  the 
charges  that  were  made  against  him. 

The  canon  under  which  Bishop  Onderdonk  was  tried,  enacts  that  if  the 
accused  be  found  guilty,  the  court  shall  "  pass  sentence  of  admonition,  sus- 
pension, or  deposition,  as  to  them  the  offence  or  offences  may  seem  to  deserve." 

The  sentence  of  the  court,  pronounced  Jan.  3, 1845,  was  susplnsi&n  ;  and 
that  not  only  "  from  the  office  of  a  BislPop  in  the  Church  of  God,"  which  the 
canon  authorized,  but  also  "from  all  the  functions  of  the  Sacred  Ministry." 

The  suspension  was  not  limited  either  by  a  term  of  time  or  condition  ;  nor 
was  there  any  power  in  the  Church  (unless  the  General  Convention  itself  be 
considered  an  exception)  competent  to  revoke  it. 

In  the  next  General  Convention,  or  that  of  1847,  two  canons  having  refer- 
ence to  this  case  were  enacted.  The  first  provided  that  "  The  Bishops  of  this 
Church  who  are  entitled  to  seats  in  the  House  of  Bishops,  may  altogether  re- 
mit and  terminate  any  judicial  sentence  which  may  have  been  imposed,  or  may 
hereafter  be  imposed,  by  Bishops  acting  collectively  as  a  judicial  tribunal,  or 


APPENDIX.  1ST 

condemned  him  (and  from  whose  condemnation  no  appeal  could 
betaken  save  to  the  judgment  Beat  of  God*),  he  uniformly 
spoke  with  all  the  respecl  and  kindness  that  were  possible  for 
one  wlio  felt  himself  injured  by  their  decision.     Be  Baid  all  in 

their  favor  that  truth  would  allow  and  charity  dictate  He 
made  no  unworthy  concessions,  no  mean  compliances  ;  though 
he  never  affected  to  disguise  the  gratification  which  he  felt  at 
the  visits  of  his  numerous  friends,  and  their  expressions  or 
messages  of  regaFd  and  confidence.  The  hope  that  he  might 
again  be  permitted  to  exercise  the  duties  of  his  ministry  was 
the  solace  of  his  life.  All  else  on  earth  he  could  relinquish, 
but  the  extinction  of  this  hope  was  death.  To  realize  it  he 
was  content  to  make  every  admission  which  ingenuity  could 
devise,  consistent  with  the  protestation  of  substantial  inno- 
cence. Every  repression  of  this  hope  on  the  part  of  those 
who  had  it  in  their  power  to  gratify  it,  led  him  to  examine 
more  deeply  the  recesses  of  his  soul,  and  stirred  him  up  to  new 
acts  of  self-abasement  and  penitence,  new  resolutions  of  watch- 
fulness and  self-control,  in  order  that  he  might  make  himself, 
through  God's  grace,  more  and  more  fit  by  the  arts  of  holy 
prudence  and  circumspection  to  guard  against  even  the  ap- 
pearance of  evil  in  the  exercise  of  his  ministry  whensoever 
the  good  Providence  of  God  should  permit  him  to  resume  it. 
And  when  at  last  this  hope  was  quenched,  and  he  realized 
what  he  had  been  slow  to  believe,  that  his  Master  had  no  fur- 
ther work  for  him  to  do  on  earth,  and  that  there  was  really 

modify  the  same  so  far  as  to  designate  a  precise  period  of  time  or  other  specific 
contingency,  on  the  occurrence  of  which  such  sentence  shall  utterly  cease,  and 
be  of  no  further  force  or  effect."  The  other  enacted  that  "  Whenever  the 
penalty  of  suspension  shall  be  inflicted  on  a  Bishop,  Priest,  or  Deacon  in  this 
Church,  the  sentence  shall  specify  on  what  terms,  or  at  what  time,  said  penalty 
shall  cease." 

From  this  statement  it  will  be  seen  that  Bishop  Onderdonk  suffered  for 
more  than  sixteen  years,  or  from  January,  1845,  to  the  time  of  his  death, 
under  a  sentence  which  the  Church,  at  the  earliest  possible  opportunity  for 
doing  so  after  it  was  pronounce!,  repudiated  and  forbade  to  be  pronounced  in 
future  on  any  clergyman  under  its  jurisdiction.  It  will  be  seen  also  that 
Bishop  Onderdonk  suffered  under  this  sentence  for  nearly  fourteen  years,  or 
from  October,  1847,  to  April,  1861,  after  the  General  Convention,  by  em- 
powering the  bishops  to  remit  it,  had  done  all  that  a  legislative  body  could  do 
towards  its  removal. 

These  farts  are,  I  believe,  without  a  parallel  in  history.  The  mention  of 
them  can  now  do  no  good  to  Bishop  Onderdonk,  who  (God  be  praised!)  is 
delivered  out  of  the  miseries  of  this  sinful  world  ;  and  I  should  rejoice  to  have 
them  consigned  to  eternal  oblivion,  were  it  not  that  the  memory  of  the  past 
may  serve  as  a  beacon  to  the  Church  for  the  future. 

*  The  decision  of  the  Court  in  Bishop  Onderdonk 's  case  was  final.  The 
Church  had  provided  for  no  appeal ;  and  an  appeal  from  her  decision  to  that 
of  a  civil  court,  though  often  urged  on  him.  was  steadfastly  rejected  as  incon- 
sistent with  his  sense  of  duty  and  submission  to  the  authority  of  the  Church. 


183 


APPENDIX. 


nothing  left  to  him  but  that  confidence  in  God,  of  which  he 
was  always  humbly  resolved  never  to  be  robbed,  it  can  be  no 
wonder  that  his  bodily  health  began  visibly  to  decline.  The 
refusal,  after  fifteen  years  of  prayer  and  suffering,  to  permit 
him  to  exercise  the  Christian  ministry  on  earth,  seemed  to  be  a 
summons  to  exchange  the  Bishop's  mitre  for  the  Confessor's 
crown,  and  to  pass  from  the  Church  militant  to  the  Church 
triumphant. 

When  the  last  effort*  was  made,  some  two  years  ago,  to  in- 
duce the  Bishops  of  the    Church  to   use  the  power  vested  in 
them  by  the  General  Convention  for  our  Bishop's  relief,  the 
vestry  of  his  parish  church  united  in  the  movement.     They 
sent  a  memorial  to  the  House  of  Bishops  representing  to  that 
venerable  body  "  That  Bishop  Onderdonk  for  nearly  fifteen 
years,  or  ever  since  his  suspension,  had  been  a  member  of  their 
parish  and  a  constant  attendant  of  Divine  Service,  both  on 
week  days  and  Sundays.     From  this  circumstance  it  has  hap- 
pened," they  say, "  that  some  or  other  members  of  our  parish 
have  been,  during  the  whole  of  this  time,  in  habits  of  daily 
intercourse  with  our  Bishop,  and  that  we  its  representatives, 
have  had  opportunities  not  possessed  by  others,  of  observing 
his  deportment ;  and  we  have  no  hesitation,"  they  added,  "  in 
bearing  our  unequivocal  testimony  to  the  purity  and  holiness 
of  his  life  and  conversation  during  the  whole  time  of  his  con- 
nection with  our  parish.     In  the  sanctuary,  we  have  been  im- 
pressed and  edified  by  his  humble  and  reverential  deportment. 
In  his  social  intercourse  we  have  seen  no  levity  in  his  manners, 
nor  any  evidence  of  impatience  or  discontent  under  his  suffer- 
ings ;  nor  have  we  ever  heard  from  his  lips  the  words  of  mur- 
mur or  reproach.     Degraded  in  the  Providence  of  God  to  the 
rank  of  those  over  whom  he  once  used  to  preside,  he  has  set 
us  a  bright  example  of  self-respect  as  a  man,  and  of  quiet  and 
uncomplaining  submission  as  a  Christian  ;  and  though  debarred 
from  the  exercise  of  his  office,  he  has  uniformly  displayed  the 
gravity  and  dignity  that  are  fitted  to  adorn  it."     This  testi- 
monial was  signed  by  all  the  members  of  the  vestry  ;  and  I 
have  read  this  extract  because  it  goes  to  show  that  they  who 
knew  him  best,  loved  and  revered  him  most  ;  and  because  also 
in  this  brief  passage  you  have,  as  it  were,  a  portrait  of  the 
man  in  his  retirement  from  the  world.     A  strenuous  advocate 
on  principle  for  the  daily  service  of  the  Church,  he  was  also  a 

*  Reference  is  here  made  to  the  memorial  which  Bishop  Onderdonk  ad- 
dressed to  the  House  of  Bishops  in  the  General  Convention  of  1859.  The 
prayer  of  the  memorialist  was  supported  by  a  resolution  (qualified,  it  must  be 
owned,  by  a  condition  though  of  little  practical  value),  which  passed  the  Con- 
vention of  his  Diocese  by  a  vote  of  147  to  19  of  the  clergy,  and  of  75  to  46 
of  the  laity  ;  two  parishes  being  divided. 


APPENDIX.  139 

constant  and  punctual  attendant  on  it  :  neither  heat,  nor  cold, 
norstorm  kept  him  from  his  place:  beside  this  there  is  little 
variety  of  incident  to  recount,  and  the  last  seventeen  years  of 
his  life  may  be  briefly  summed  up  in  the  words,  "  He  departed 
not  from  the  temple,  but  served  God  day  and  night  with 
prayers."  Sequestered  from  this  troublesome  world,  he  lived 
but  to  converse  with  God,  and  to  meditate  on  that  blessed 
place  to  which,  we  trust,  he  has  now  arrived,  and  on  that  bless- 
ed company  to  which  we  humbly  hope  he  is  now  united.* 

Although  the  health  of  the  Bishop  had  been  during  the 
Winter  visibly  declining,  yet  it  was  his  own  opinion  and  the 
opinion  of  those  around  him,  that  it  would  be  in  some  measure 
renewed  by  the  return  of  the  genial  season  which  renews  the 
face  of  nature.  He  understood  that  the  disease  under  which 
he  labored  would  be  ultimately  fatal,  but  he  looked  forward, 
until  a  few  days  before  his  death,  to  a  partial  recovery.  It 
fell  to  my  lot  to  undeceive  him  in  this  respect,  and  to  assure 
him  that  the  hand  of  death  was  upon  him.f  He  received  the 
communication  with  the  utmost  calmness  and  seriousness,  but 
with  a  full  sense  of  its  importance.  He  felt,  he  said,'  the 
solemnity  of  death,  but  it  was  an  event  on  which  his  mind  had 
been  habitually  fixed  ;  he  expressed  surprise  that  there  should 
have  been  any  hesitation  in  speaking  plainly  to  him  on  the 
subject,  and  thanked  me  for  my  Christian  kindness,  as  he  was 
pleased  to  call  it,  in  making  to  him  the  announcement.  After 
a  brief  conversation,  I  proposed  to  him  the  reception  of  the 
Holy  Communion.  He  seemed  to  have  anticipated  the  sugges- 
tion ;  spoke  of  it  as  the  closing  act  of  his  life,  and  one  which 
ought  to  be  preceded  by  a  special  preparation,  and  promised 
to  appoint  a  time  for  the  purpose.  On  the  Sunday  following  I 
administered  to  him  the  Blessed  Sacrament  in  the  midst  of  his 
family,  all  of  whom,  as  many  as  were  present,  united  with  him 
in  the  participation.  He  received  the  Holy  Mysteries  with 
his  accustomed  evidences  of  earnest  penitence  and  deep  humil- 
ity ;  of  lively  faith,  of  fervent  charity,  and  of  sincere  and  un- 
reserved forgiveness  as  he  hoped  to  be  forgiven.  Nothing 
occurred  to  mar  the  quiet  joy  of  the  heavenly  scene  unless  it 
were  his  expression  of  regret  that,  through  some  misunder- 
standing, two  of  his  old  and  dear  friends:}:  whom  he  had  ex- 
pected were  not  present  on  the  occasion. § 

*  See  Bidhop  Home's  Life  and  Death  of  St.  John  Baptist,  sect.  vii. 
f  This  interview  was  on  the  morning  of  Thursday,  April  25th. 
{The  Rev.  Dr.  M'Vickar  and  the  Rev.  Dr.  S.  R.  Johnson, 
I  The  following  communication,  which  has  been  kindly  addressed  to  me  by 
the  Rev.  Dr.  Francis  Vinton,  may  be  here  properly  inserted  : 

Trinity  Church,  New  York,  May  10th,  1861 
Mv  Dear  Sir:— I  have  been  requested  to  write  the  statement  which  I 


190  APPENDIX. 

On  the  following  morning  I  visited  him  again,  but  found 
him,  though  in  full  possession  of  his  mental  powers,  yet  too 
weak  for  conversation.  I  may  here  mention  that  immediately 
before  administering  to  him  the  Holy  Communion  I  had  asked 
him  if  he  wished  me  to  use  in  connection  with  the  Communion 
Service,  any  part  of  the  Office  for  the  Visitation  of  the  Sick. 
He  answered,  "  Yes  ;  use  the  prayer  in  which  we  beseech  God 
to  continue  this  sick  member  in  the  unity  of  the  Church  ;"  add- 
ing that  it  had  always  been  with  him  a  favorite  prayer  ;  "  and 
use  also,"  he  said,  "  the  Collect  for  all  present  at  the  Visita- 
tion."    On  this  occasion,  finding  him  as  I  said  too  weak  for 

made  at  the  funeral  of  the  late  Bishop  of  New  York,  and  from  the  pulpit  of 
Trinity  church.     I  add  also  a  few  particulars. 

On  Friday,  April  26th,  I  called  on  Bishop  Onderdonk,  and  went  up  stairs 
to  visit  him  on  his  sick  bed.  His  son  was  in  the  room,  ministering  his  nursing 
care  with  tenderness,  with  whom  it  was  my  privilege  to  cooperate. 

The  Bishop,  though  very  weak  in  body,  was  fully  possessed  of  his  mind, 
and  conversed  quite  freely.  Among  the  subjects  of  communication  he  spoke 
with  ardent  satisfaction  of  the  visit  just  received  from  the  venerable  Prof. 
Clement  C.  Moore,  whom  he  "  had  not  seen,"  he  said,  "  for  fourteen  years." 
He  estimated  his  age,  and  spoke  of  his  virtues  and  amenity  of  disposition. 

When  about  to  leave  him,  I  suggested  that  if  he  desired  prayers,  it  would 
be  gratifying;  to  me  to  minister  to  him. 

He  answered.  "  Do  so,  Doctor  :  it  would  be  very  comforting  and  desirable." 

I  used  the  "  Office  of  the  Visitation  of  the  Sick  "  from  the  beginning  to 
the  end  ;  adding  the  prayer  for  -'A  sick  person  when  there  appeareth  but 
little  hope  of  recovery." 

The  Bishop  made  every  response  audibly,  while  lying  on  his  bed,  with  his 
hands  clasped  and  eyes  looking  up  to  heaven. 

Among  the  questions  to  be  asked  in  the  Examination  of  the  Sick,  are 
these,  "  Do  you  repent  you  truly  of  your  sins  ?  Are  you  in  charity  with  all 
the  world?"  The  Bishop  closed  his  eyes  while  he  spoke  of  himself  as  a  sin- 
ner, both  in  thought,  word,  and  deed  ;  saying  that  "  in  his  most  earnest  en- 
deavors to  live  for  Christ  and  the  Church,  as  well  as  in  exercisii  g  himself  to 
have  conscience  void  of  offence  towards  God  and  towards  man,  he  saw  infirm- 
ity and  pollution" — then,  opening  his  eyes,  he  added,  "  But  the  holiest  man, 
eqimlly  with  the  most  sinful,  finds,  in  the  hour  of  death,  that  every  hope  on 
which  he  relics  for  salvation  is  dispersed,  but  One — all  but  Oxe,  our  Saviour 
Jesus  Christ — He  is  the  Bock  of  Ages."  Then,  looking  me  in  the  face,  the 
Bishop  said  with  solemn  earnestness,  "  Of  the  crimes  of  which  I  have  been 
accused  and  for  which  I  have  been  condemned,  my  conscience  acquits  me,  in  the 
sight  of  God." 

In  answer  to  the  other  questions,  the  Bishop  expressed  charity  with  all; 
forgiveness,  from  the  bottom  of  his  heart,  of  all  persons  that  had  offended 
him  :  readiness  to  ask  forgiveness  of  all  whom  he  had  offended  :  and  willing- 
ness to  make  amends,  to  the  uttermost  of  his  power,  where  he  had  done 
injury  to  any. 

The  Bishop  received  the  final  invocation  and  blessing,  in  the  Visitation 
Office,  with  the  meekness  of  a  quiet  spirit — then  extending  to  me  his  emaciated 
hand  and  pressing  mine,  thanked  me,  with  fervor,  and  said,  "  God  bless  you. 
my  dear  Doctor."     And  so  we  parted.     Very  truly  your  brother, 

Francis  Vlxton. 

To  the  Rev.  Samuel  Seabury,  D.D 


APPENDIX.  191 

conversation,  I  could  only  ask  him  to  unite  with  me  in  these 
and  other  parts  of  the  same  office.  This  he  did  with  great 
composure  and  fervor  of  mind.  It  was  not  my  privilege  to 
see  him  again.     Early  the  next  day  he  expired. 

Few  men  have  passed  through-  such  a  fight  of  afflictions,  and 
had  so  many  trials,  so  many  opportunities  to  exemplify  the 
highest  graces  of  the  Christian  character""  as  our  deceased 
father  in  God.  To  those  of  his  clergy  and  people  who  have 
adhered  to  him  through  good  and  evil  report,  who  have  stead- 
fastly believed  in  the  unblemished  purity  of  his  character  ;  or 
who  believing  that  he  had  erred,  loved  him  for  the  many  beau- 
tiful traits  which  his  sufferings  developed,  it  is  a  matter  of 
heartfelt  satisfaction  to  believe  that  in  him,  as  far  as  human 
eye  can  discern,  patience,  charity,  and  brotherly  kindness  had 
their  perfect  work.  The  graces  and  virtues  brought  out  by 
his  sufferings  in  his  retirement  from  the  world,  no  less  than  the 
extraordinary  abilities  displayed  in  the  active  duties  of  his 
eminent  station,  prove  him  to  have  been  indeed  "  a  burning 
and  a  shining  light,"  They  who  do  not  appreciate  his  exam- 
ple, of  course  cannot  imitate  it.  But  let  us  who  have  rejoiced 
in  his  light  be  guided  by  it  to  Christ  our  Saviour  ;  that  copy- 
ing the  patience  and  humility,  the  faith  and  charity,  the  courage 
and  constancy,  and  the  noble  and  forgiving  temper  of  our 
departed  father,  we  may  be  preserved  in  the  unity  of  the 
Church  in  this  world,  and  admitted  to  the  company  of  the 
blessed  in  the  world  to  come,  through  Jesus  Christ  our  only 
Saviour  and  Redeemer  ;  to  Whom  in  unity  with  the  Father 
and  the  Holy  Ghost  be  all  glory  now  and  forever !     Amen. 

*  The  concluding  paragraph  of  the  discourse  has  been  suggested  by  a  let- 
ter received  from  one  of  the  best  and  ablest  of  our  clergy,  the  Rev.  Dr.  Wm. 
Shelton,  of  Buffalo.  Having  referred  to  the  example  of  our  good  Bishop, 
Dr.  Shelton  adds :  "  It  is  painful  to  me  to  be  taken  leave  of  (as  lam)  by 
most  of  my  old  friends.  I  helped  to  make  him  Bishop  (by  my  vote),  and  be 
was  my  superior  for  some  eight  years  ;  and  in  all  my  intercourse  with  him,  he 
was  always  the  same.  He  was  very  high-minded,  and  above  vile  things  and 
arts;  self-denying  and  self-sacrificing.  I  part  with  him  as  from  one  of  the 
old  land-marks  which  I  have  looked  upon  since  my  early  manhood.  He  was 
Professor  of  History,  etc.,  to  my  clas>,  and  was  one  of  the  geutlemen  of  that 
day  who  entertained  society,  as  well  as  devoted  himself  to  the  discharge  of 
clerical  duties  with  devotion  and  ability.  That  I  shall  see  him  no  more  for- 
ever is  a  thought  that  thrills  my  heart,  and  fills  me  with  a  flood  of  emotions 
and  remembrances." 

Dr.  Shelton,  I  trust,  will  pardon  the  liberty  I  have  taken  in  sharing  with 
the  sorrowful  friends  aud  sincere  admirers  of  our  departed  father,  this  just  and 
geuial  tribute  to  his  memory. 

THE     END. 


'  ii  i  ir.it  n/. 


0315024253 


937.09 


0n7 


937.09 


0n7 


Obsequies  and  obituary  notices  of 
the  late  Right  Reverend  . . . 


i , 


omn/ 


f^ji. 


*/*■* 


mk 


<*     *  m  ■  -■'    ■  '«. 


^/l 


,t  i 


*  T;.I 


#' 


» 


.?•«-- 


«  « 


UW^ 


•SSMW 


Ml 


l^rf 


L1JHJ 


■ 


M 


m 


m* 


pw 


P5& 


y^^*£f 


1 


! 


fl 


^ 


}* 


£  >« 


* 


,&*«* 


